Eat something you can’t name

Eating something you can't name means pointing at a dish you don't recognize, in a place where you can't read the menu, and eating it anyway. Half the time it's the best thing you eat all trip; the other half, it's the story you tell for years.

Where to do it

Gwangjang Market, South Korea

Seoul's old covered market is a maze of food counters: mung-bean pancakes fried in front of you, raw beef yukhoe, and sannakji, octopus cut so fresh it still moves. Sit wherever the stools are full in South Korea's capital. Chew sannakji well, since the suckers can stick in the throat.

Chengdu, China

Sichuan's capital is the home of numbing, chile-hot málà: hot pot with tripe and duck blood, spiced rabbit heads, fire-red noodles. In China's spice capital, "wēi là" means mildly spicy, and even that is hot.

Oaxaca, Mexico

In Oaxaca's markets, chapulines, toasted grasshoppers with chile, lime and salt, are sold by the scoop next to tlayudas and moles of several colors. They taste mostly of lime and chile, a gentle first insect in Mexico.

Cusco, Peru

In the Andes, cuy, guinea pig, is a festive dish, roasted or fried whole, and alpaca appears on many menus. Cusco is high in the mountains of Peru, so eat lightly for the first day or two while you adjust.

Marrakech, Morocco

At night in Jemaa el-Fna, stalls ladle snail soup into small bowls, and others serve steamed sheep's head. It's Morocco at its most theatrical: sit on the bench, point, and watch what the locals do.

Reykjavik, Iceland

Hákarl, fermented shark, is eaten in small cubes, often with a shot of brennivín, especially at the midwinter Þorrablót feasts. The smell of ammonia is the challenge. Some restaurants, and Reykjavik's weekend flea market, sell a tasting piece in Iceland.

Manila, Philippines

Balut, a fertilized duck egg boiled and eaten from the shell with salt or vinegar, is sold by street vendors in the evening. Sip the broth first. It's a snack, not a dare, for many people in the Philippines.

Tokyo, Japan

In an izakaya with a handwritten menu, ask for the osusume, the recommendation, or say omakase and let the cook choose: shirako, natto, uni, or chicken parts you've never eaten at a yakitori counter. Few places in Japan will steer you wrong.

How to make it happen

• Learn two phrases: "What do you recommend?" and "the same as that", pointing at a neighbor's plate.
• Pick busy stalls where food is cooked hot in front of you and turns over fast.
• Follow the traveler's rule of thumb: boil it, cook it, peel it or forget it. Raw seafood and unwashed salads are the riskier choices.
• Carry an allergy card in the local language if you have one. Fish sauce, peanuts and shrimp paste hide in many dishes.
• Skip anything from protected wildlife, such as turtle or bushmeat.
• Ask its name afterward, write it down and take a photo, so next time you can name it.

A food tour is the gentlest way in, and a country with another alphabet guarantees a menu you can't read.