As part of a piece on Chinglish (poor translations of Chinese into English), the New York Times had a slide show of some excellent examples of the form. One of them was of cans of a beverage whose English name is The Jew’s Ear Juice. What is in those cans? For most of the signs in the slide show, I could figure out the intended meaning, but this one is a stumper.
And here I was, thinking that my ears weren’t any juicier than the next gal’s. I never would have thought.
That said, fungus juice? Who drinks fungus juice?
The Chinese, clearly. Who, according to legend, will eat anything with legs except a table, and anything with wings except an airplane. 
And frankly it took a few months of taste testing after the invention of the airplane for even that addendum.
Even then it has to be a particularly poorly made table.
The fungus is referred to as ‘jelly ear’ in many circles now, presumably because of the very un-PC nature of Jew’s Ear, but… the taxonomic Latin name is Auricularia auricula-judae - is that fixed for all time? Or could it ever be revised on grounds of its potential to offend? (I know latin names do get revised, but that’s usually because of revisions to the taxonomic tree, or discovery of earlier naming).
The Cantonese, specifically – it goes, “A Cantonese will eat anything with four legs except the table, anything that flies except an airplane, and anything with two legs except his parents.” Even other Chinese think the Cantonese are wak.
I think I’ve had that fungus. I called it by a different name, so I’m not sure if it’s the same thing. It’s kind of like jelly, but it’s usually in a sweet, semi-thick liquid that is good if you drink it on a hot day. It’s not bad.
I think the original name is Judas-ear, relating to the legendarium around the disciple. So I don’t think they’ll change it (there are many, many more offensive scientific names, believe me)
I heard that etymology too, but I thought there was some uncertainty whether it was a back-formed one.
I far prefer the distilled waste of certain fungi.
Something that sounds, incredibly enough, even less appetizing than fermented mare’s milk.
One of my favorite hobbies is to go to the Chinese market and pick up at least one, preferably many, bizarre foodstuffs. I picked up this drink once, although it wasn’t called “Jew’s Ear Juice.” I think it was called “White Fungus Drink.” Like YogSogoth said above, the drink is sweet and the fungus is soft and jelly-like. It didn’t really taste of anything distinctive.
(Other weird Chinese foods I’ve sampled are licorice-flavored watermelon seeds, fruit-flavored beef jerky, grass jelly, aloe vera chunks, fish custard, and the nastiest of all, starfruit juice. Really, it tastes like feet.)
Whoa… Jew’s Ear?? I clicked the link to see it, and I had no idea that was what they called it in English. The direct translation from Chinese is something completely different. But yeah, it’s a fungus. Even I’m a little squeamish when it comes to some Chinese food, but it tastes good cooked with tofu-gan. Never had it in juice form, though :dubious:
I LOVE starfruit juice!
Maybe I have a foot fetish…
Mountain Dew? Blegh! I’ll have the Jew’s-ear juice.