Crustacean Dish Giant Isopod Noodles Now on Taipei Restaurant Menu

Giant isopod noodles, a dish made from crustaceans, have just appeared on the menu of a restaurant in Taipei.

Giant Isopod Noodles

A new dish at a noodle restaurant in Taipei features a 14-legged huge isopod as its centerpiece, and customers are lining up to get their photo taken with it as well as a sample of the bowl of noodles.

More than a hundred individuals have signed up for a waiting list to eat at The Ramen Boy since it introduced the limited-edition dish on May 22, announcing in a social media post that it has finally obtained this fantasy ingredient.

Cute Crustacean Ingredient

As he held up a massive isopod for customers to take pictures, Mr. Hu, the restaurant's 37-year-old owner, remarked that the crustacean component is appealing because of its appearance and because it appears "cute."

Hu claims that because they steam food instead of frying it, there is no issue in processing it.

The isopod is steamed for ten minutes in the restaurant before being placed on top of a bowl of noodles with a rich broth of chicken and fish. Each serving costs 1,480 Taiwan dollars, or around US$48

The meat has a solid structure and a little chewiness, according to a client, and tastes similar to a cross between crab and lobster.

Giant Isopods

Among the multitude of species in the crustacean family, giant isopods, a distant relative of crabs and prawns, are the largest, according to information on the NOAA Ocean Exploration website.

According to Taiwan's Animal Planet, they are often found between 18 to 2,340 yards below the ocean surface, with 80% of them living on the ocean floor.

The species was found close to the Dongsha islands in the South China Sea, and a Taiwanese scientist named it "Bathynomus jamesi." They are believed to be caught at a distance of 300 to 500 meters.

Since the ramen's introduction, some academics have voiced worries about the potential ecological effects of bottom trawling fishing methods as well as potential health dangers.

The restaurant's patrons, however, disagree.

Digell Huang, a genetic counselor, advised everyone to try it if they get the chance if it is merely a special menu and the enormous isopods were caught accidentally as the restaurant owner claims.

She ate from a serving of the isopod-topped noodle and added that she feels very honored to have the chance to taste it.

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Potential Health Risks

A researcher, however, issued a health advisory, stating that the mainly undiscovered species may contain poisons or heavy metals like mercury.

According to Huang Ming-chih, an associate professor of biotechnology at the National University of Tainan who specializes in deep-sea crustaceans, the Bathynomus jamesi species was only recently recognized officially in Taiwan and nothing is known about it.

The ideal course of action, according to him, would be to conduct additional research, create a comprehensive database, and then permit people to eat, CNN reports.

The issue with any deep-ocean species, according to Miranda Lowe, Principal Curator of Crustacea for the National History Museum, is that not much is known about their lives. They tend to be found in relatively small groups.

According to Lowe, there aren't many natural predators of big isopods. Like other crustaceans, they have a very hard exterior shell, and they have significantly less meat than crabs. There aren't many other animals that would be interested in eating it for a significant meal.