MtnTraveler wrote:

>> My mother-in-law will add chopped raw oysters to her kimchee. I kid you
>> not!
>
> It makes perfect sense. Many Asian cuisines require chopped or crushed raw
> sea foods as flavoring. The Cambodians, Burmese, Vietnamese, and Thai rely
> heavily upon crushed crabs for flavor. Very small, about 3-4cm across the
> body, these live crabs get thrown into the mortar and pounded along with
> various herbs and spices for addition to many, many dishes. Thai 'Som Tam'
> is perhaps the most well known to the West. Frankly, it used to frighten
> me when I'd come across a tiny crab claw in a salad!

Coming full circle, there are small crabs which live inside oysters, and can
be eaten whole along with their hosts. (They taste a bit like celery.)

Bob