Updated on 13 October 2026. The original 2008 post is kept below.
Is bat soup really a thing in Palau?
Yes. Fruit bat soup is a traditional dish in Palau, a Pacific island country east of the Philippines, and in some neighbouring islands such as Guam. As the photo shows, presentation does not try to hide what’s in the bowl.
Palau isn’t alone: bats are eaten in parts of Asia, Africa and the Pacific. About half of all fruit bat species are hunted for food somewhere, which is one reason several of them are now threatened.
Bat soup got a sudden burst of global fame in 2020, when a video of a woman eating it was shared as “proof” of eating habits in Wuhan. It was actually filmed by a travel vlogger in Palau in 2016 to show local cuisine. The internet: always delicious, rarely accurate.
More soups that look back at you: duck blood soup and how to barbecue bats.
From the 2008 original
If you have to cook and eat bat soup, couldn’t you then at least chop the bat in pieces before serving it? Well – suppose that it would spoil the whole tourist scaring effect.
Bat soup as pictured is a local speciality served at the Palau islands located in the pacific ocean. Be sure to try it out, should you ever travel across (if you have the stomach – that is.)
Source: www.odditycentral.com
