Ex-Google MD munched on crispy duck tongue in Beijing thinking it was kurkure, shares story

A former Google and Twitter executive was supposedly enjoying eating ‘Kurkure’ in the cafeteria of Beijing’s Google office when he was abruptly interrupted by a colleague. “Wow, I didn't know you were a fan of these,” the colleague warned. “Yes, of course. I grew up eating something similar as a snack in India,” replied Parminder Singh, former Managing Director of Google and Twitter. But then the response from the colleague left him red-faced.

It turned out that Singh was relishing crispy duck tongues all along and not ‘Kurkure.’ “Really? Are duck tongues common in India,” the colleague asked in a tone reflecting shock and surprise.

Singh recently took to X to narrate this funny incident to his followers. He said the incident took place when he was visiting Google's Beijing office.

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“I had been relishing crispy-coated duck tongues! Now, whenever I see a plate of 'kurkure', I double-check to make sure it's not Chinese tongue-di kabab,'' Singh wrote on X.

Singh further clarified that he was “happily adventurous’ with his food choices and accidentally eating duck tongues didn’t bother him. “Just for the record, I’m happily adventurous with my food. I have eaten everything from snakes to insects, and of course duck tongues! But when I expect kurkure, I want kurkure!” Singh wrote.

Users on X were both surprised and amused by the incident, who then shared their own food mix-up experiences.

''I filled my plate with something looking like sev-bhajia in Kuala Lumpur. I found the smell a bit strange. When looked closely, every strand of sev had a pair of tiniest eyes. It was some kind of deep-fried minuscule fish!'' one user wrote.

Political analyst, Tehseen Poonawalla also commented that he loves duck tongues and finds them to be ''yummy and addictive.''

“A famished me found an instant noodles cup in the snacks tray at a hotel in Guangzhou. Seeing the tiny green circle sticker relieved me. "Vegetarian food at last!" I muttered as I grabbed the cup. It had a large colourful photo of a prawn covered in noodles. Evidently, fish is considered vegetarian there,” a third user wrote.

(With inputs from agencies)