7th Place: Century Eggs (China) – 100-Year-Old Eggs
Source: Wikipedia
China’s old-school preserved food “Century Eggs” are duck eggs wrapped in lime, salt, and ash, then aged for weeks to months. Despite the name “100-year eggs,” they’re not actually aged for a century.
During the aging process, the egg white turns into a jelly-like black-brown substance, while the yolk becomes a greenish-black cream. They have a distinctive ammonia and sulfur smell, and look like “completely rotten eggs” to first-time viewers.
In China, they’re enjoyed as a “delicious delicacy,” commonly used as porridge toppings or eaten straight. But Americans are totally overwhelmed by their bizarre appearance, making them known for being “the most creepy egg dish on Earth.”
6th Place: Surströmming (Sweden) – World’s Smelliest Fish
Source: Wikipedia
Sweden’s old-school dish “Surströmming” is salt-cured fermented herring that holds the Guinness World Record as “the world’s smelliest food.” The odor reportedly travels for hundreds of meters!
This dish’s smell has been scientifically measured and records a stench index many times higher than any cheese. Opening a can indoors is absolutely taboo because the smell won’t go away for days.
Even Swedes say “it’s definitely an acquired taste,” and this dish constantly goes viral in American TikTok dare videos, with people fainting or wanting to puke from the smell. It’s notoriously known for being “the dish that became famous for its smell.”
