I personally think it's rude to say that what something someone likes (food, music, boy/girl, whatever) is 'shit', but even more so with food because it's so specific to certain cultures/ethnicities and so deeply personal because there is the idea that we are what we eat. Also, I think to have Asian food being insulted by non-Asians rubs us Asian-Americans/-Canadians the wrong way because it tends to evoke bad memories of our childhoods where we were made fun of for having (for lack of a better term)
“non-white” food, or food that was strong-smelling, or weird-smelling (I prefer the term 'exotic') and just added to our feelings of 'other-ness' despite our desperate attempts to fit assimilate into the Western culture we grew up in and had foolishly assumed we were a part of (when in reality many of us are neither here nor there, and kind of stuck between two or more cultures). Back then, happiest were the days when my mom would pack a regular 'Western' sandwich for my lunch instead of a bento box, although now I'm always grateful when my mom makes a typical Japanese dinner to the point where any girl who plans to marry me (whatever her ethnicity) had better start writing down some of my mom's recipes.

It's heartening for me now to see people of all colours in downtown Toronto packing away some lunchtime sushi and expertly handling chopsticks, or perusing the sushi bar with a keen eye, whereas I'm still reluctant to be seen enjoying sushi in public because it seems so… stereotypical. ;P And the 'raw fish' insults and queries from my childhood still hurt. ;-(

I'm generally not a picky eater and try not to be judgmental, but I understand there are certain kinds of ethnic foods that most people raised in the West would clearly be grossed out by (anything to do with insects, for example) and even I would probably balk at eating a cockroach or something. Even an ant would be pretty bizarre.

I did however once eat a mosquito but I was really drunk and really, I've eaten old pizza dipped in a used ashtray while drunk so I'm really not one to talk about what other people are willing to eat. When I was 16 our family went to Paris and there were fricken little gnats everywhere at night, especially around the restaurants and they kept landing on the food, getting into the salad, and it really grossed me out, I couldn't eat and I was really considering returning the food, although seeing how many gnats (or maybe they were fruit flies, I don't know and I didn't want to know) were around it was probably a pointless exercise in futility. Yet the Parisians around us didn't seem to be bothered at all by the bugs, I found it baffling. Of course, they eat escargots.

/had escargot, wasn't bad but wasn't amazing either
//recently joined the Facebook fan page for 'natto', and was surprised at the number of non-Japanese fans, despite its weird smell, taste and questionable texture

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bizarre_Foods

There are foods that absolutely repel me, just by the sight or idea of it–balut for one, but also any kind of insect or rodent (like roaches, a Thai street food, or guinea pig from Ecuadorean cuisine). But would I eat any other foods from those respective cuisines, yeah, I would. In fact, I have already.

I don't think it's racist to say that a particular food looks disgusting, because we all have different taste. But it IS racist to say something like “Ew, that food looks like only a Chinese would eat it!” I don't know…I'm not as bothered by it, because culinary appeal is very broad and subjective. Plus, being Chinese, a LOT of the food I've eaten, many people–including other Chinese people–consider gross. I mean duck's tongue, pig's intestines, chicken gizzard–you name it.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bizarre_Foods

There are foods that absolutely repel me, just by the sight or idea of it–balut for one, but also any kind of insect or rodent (like roaches, a Thai street food, or guinea pig from Ecuadorean cuisine). But would I eat any other foods from those respective cuisines, yeah, I would. In fact, I have already.

I don't think it's racist to say that a particular food looks disgusting, because we all have different taste. But it IS racist to say something like “Ew, that food looks like only a Chinese would eat it!” I don't know…I'm not as bothered by it, because culinary appeal is very broad and subjective. Plus, being Chinese, a LOT of the food I've eaten, many people–including other Chinese people–consider gross. I mean duck's tongue, pig's intestines, chicken gizzard–you name it.

I think it's one thing to say that something looks unappealing to you. After all, there is nothing wrong with being honest. And if you are also OK with sounding like a douchebag, it's fine to say something literally looks like shit, as that Serious Eats commenter did. But, in my opinion, it's another thing to start going off on how “you can't believe how any human being could eat that” and how “people who eat that shit can't possibly be human.” I've heard other expats/visitors here say things like that, and I think it is highly offensive to imply that someone's culinary habits make them somehow less than human, especially when the food they are eating is simply the norm for them.

If somebody didn't know about shaved ice and that was the first thing that was introduced to them as shaved ice, I could understand why they would make such comments. I just hope they would be informed there's alot more variety, since there are quite a lot of delightful and yummy looking shaved ice such as Korea's Pat Bing Soo.

This topic reminds me of when I introduced Boba to some friends. The first time they saw it, they couldn't stop staring and thought it was distrusting. Now they tell me to to get them extra Balls every time.