One of my friends, who, with her husband often travels to exotic places around the globe, told me of a recent experience when they visited Micronesia and the Mariana Islands (near China and with lots of Chinese people following Chinese customs) with some of their friends. They sat down to dinner at a “reputable” restaurant, and one of the men ordered a tureen of soup for them to share. The huge tureen looked and smelled great, and when they lifted the lid to spoon soup into their bowls, there was a whole bat on top of the soup; the waiter explained that they were supposed to take their forks and scrape off pieces of the bat to eat in their soup (furry body and all). Needless to say, my friend and her entourage saved a few calories that evening. When the Covid 19 virus hit, she remembered first-hand how that pandemic most likely came about, and why most people on the planet don’t eat bats.

Although bats are never okay to eat, I use a plastic one to top this soup at my annual Halloween BOO-ffet for shock quality. If you’re extremely ambitious, you can make a bat body out of a meatloaf mixture and attach wings. For those still reeling from the Covid 19 pandemic (which is most of us, since it changed our world), this dish may be one to skip for a few years, but I must admit that the Faux Bat in the following Rich Bat and Body Parts Soup will be the source of nightmares for many Halloweens to come. It is actually a delicious Asian soup, and can be made other times of the year sans bat.

24 Servings

Eyeballs:
1 pound ground turkey
3 tablespoons Thai fish sauce
1 tablespoon frozen chopped lemongrass
1/2 cup finely chopped onions
1/4 cup dry bread crumbs
1 tablespoon cornstarch

40 small stuffed green olives

Soup:

1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 large onion, finely chopped
1 pound sliced mushrooms
2 tablespoons minced fresh ginger
12 ounces boneless skinless chicken breast halves, trimmed and thinly sliced
8 cups chicken broth
1 16 oz. can cream-style corn
2 cups frozen corn
1 8 oz. can shredded bamboo shoots, drained and rinsed
1 cup Basic Cream Soup Mix
8 ounces lean ham, cut into 1" julienne strips
2 tablespoons sesame oil
1 16 oz. package frozen pepper stir fry
1 12 oz. package frozen sugar snap pea stir fry

1. Eyeballs: Preheat oven to 350º.
2. Mix the ground turkey, fish sauce, lemongrass, onions, breadcrumbs and cornstarch.
3. Scoop 1" balls from the mixture.
4. With wet hands, form into balls and push a small green olive into each one.
5. Place them on a broiler pan and bake 20 minutes; remove from the oven and set aside.
6. Soup: Heat the vegetable oil in a large Dutch oven or soup pot.
7. Add the onions and mushrooms and stir until softened.
8. Stir in the chicken strips and stir until they are white.
9. Pour in the chicken broth, cream-style corn, frozen corn, and bamboo shoots.
10. Bring to a boil and whisk in the cream soup mix.
11. When slightly thickened add the ham and sesame oil.
12. Stir in the frozen vegetables and the eyeballs; heat through.
13. Pour into a tureen and top with an impeccably clean plastic bat.

Amount Per Serving
Calories 178 Calories from Fat 67
Percent Total Calories From: Fat 37% Protein 27% Carb. 35%

Nutrient Amount per Serving
Total Fat 7 g
Saturated Fat 2 g
Cholesterol 31 mg
Sodium 937 mg
Total Carbohydrate 16 g
Dietary Fiber 1 g
Sugars 1 g
Protein 12 g

Vitamin A 3% Vitamin C 10% Calcium 0% Iron 6%