Photo from Simon Pegg's Sina Weibo.

British actor Simon Pegg, best known for his role in "Shaun of the Dead," has lately been swimming in Chinese fans, with a whopping 1 million followers on Sina Weibo. An avid poster, Pegg published 439 posts in 14 months, and every statement was met with support from his cheering admirers. But on the night of Nov. 1, the actor touched on a topic almost guaranteed to rile up Chinese netizens.

The topic? Food.

On Oct. 31, Halloween eve, Pegg posted a picture of a cake decorated to look like a human brain, with dripping red cream intended to resemble blood. The cake even featured vivid anatomical details such as a cerebral cortex and lobes. However, the response to Pegg's Halloween post was swift and passionate. In comments, Chinese netizens posted all sorts of pictures of ox brain, pig brain, sheep brain, monkey brain and more, illustrating the different preparations of brain - toasted, baked, fried, boiled - in some of the country’s popular dishes.

The brain post turned into a foodie carnival, with many Weibo users presenting extremely local delicacies that wouldn't be considered such anywhere outside of China. Netizens posted pictures of beef and lamp stomach, worms, fresh shrimp and crabs, cooked rabbit heads and premature chicken eggs.

After bombarding Pegg with so many bizarre dishes, Chinese netizens felt sure that they had intimidated the foreign movie star. They gloated so much that the next day, when Pegg published pictures of himself dressed up as a zombie at a Halloween party, his followers commented that he must just be seeking revenge.

“Are you fighting back and trying to terrify us? Haha, I don’t feel scared at all!” wrote one Weibo user.

“I bet a zombie would like to try real brain,” wrote another.

“Mr. Pegg must never have imagined that his prank would lead to a lecture on Chinese culinary culture,” remarked a third.

Of course, it's not news that some Chinese foods are deemed inedible by foreign palates. In 2011, CNN Travel labeled China’s pidan, also known as “1,000-year-old egg,” as “the most 'revolting' food.” Of course, the media outlet later faced a powerful online outcry from Chinese citizens defending their beloved appetizer.

Some foreign media has also made lists like “10 Weirdest Chinese Foods You’re Afraid to Eat,” citing fried scorpion, roasted sparrow, roasted frog, sheep penis and stinky tofu among others. Sometimes even Chinese people enjoy making fun of themselves for being such courageous eaters.