Unthinkable in western culture: Eating Dogs and Snakes

[Guest Chan]

Hey, I'm so interested in tasting Dog and Snake and therefor some of my (western) friends hate me!!!!

You know some people here threat their pets like their own children or even like the house gods.

But I wanna try out everythingh which is usual in China, i want a culture-crash!

Can you really get dog anywhere in China? How is it served? How does it taste? What do i have to consider?

And my grandpa who worked in Shanghai ate Snake, he said its like chicken. True?

Im so excited to taste it. Does any of my European fellows know if you can get Dog or Snake here in a Chinese restaurant in Europe???

[Quest]

But I wanna try out everythingh which is usual in China, i want a culture-crash!

It is not that usual actually...

Even for those people who eat dogs, they probably eat fewer than 10 times their whole life time. Dog meat is considered exotic and not that usual.

I think snakes should be some what more acceptable, they are just like eels.

Pets are a different "species". No one would eat his/her own beloved pets.

[Tsunku]

In Kunming lots of barbeque places offer dog. You can also get it in a kind of stew. Its not that common, but people do eat it. I tasted it once. Its a red meat, not terribly exotic tasting.

Snakes are, like Quest said, like eels. Down in the south of Yunnan province its common to find snakes in baijiu, which is supposed to have medicinal qualities. You can also drink the snake's blood. They cut off the tip of the tail and you can drink it straight from the live snake. I think this happens in Thailand too.

[skylee]

Right, how about eating eels? I think dog-eating is common in South Korea.

Snake is not really that uncommon. People in HK like to eat it in winter, says it keeps your body warm.

[TSkillet]

I've had both dog and snake.

Snake isn't that unusual - I can get it here in Texas (well, not all over the place, but I've seen it).

Dog is unusual in the west, but pretty common in southern china. I actually didn't really think much of it - like really tasteless, tough beef.

[Quest]

much better than people who eat scorpions, centipedes and other little shellish buggs (e.g. barbequed roach)

[Guest Chan]

much better than people who eat scorpions, centipedes and other little shellish buggs (e.g. barbequed roach)

My brother ate scorpion once. He said it was good, like chicken, but just few meat. It's for when there is nothing better with more meat left.

You can also drink the snake's blood. They cut off the tip of the tail and you can drink it straight from the live snake. I think this happens in Thailand too

Aaaw, I get the creeps with that! But it more told to be a medicine than tasting good, isnt it?

Even for those people who eat dogs, they probably eat fewer than 10 times their whole life time.

But snakes aren't that easy to find anymore and the world is full of homeless dogs... I guess it coukd become more.

[Ian_Lee]

my grandpa who worked in Shanghai ate Snake

I don’t know that people in Shanghai eat snake too.

I have visited those snake farms in Guangxi where thousands of snakes are raised. The smell is much more stink than the crocodile farms in Bangkok.

I have no opinion towards dog eating. But I have heard the last sighs of dogs when they were killed in the butchery house during the morning stroll in the grocery market in Guangdong.

Even though I could not see the scene, I was very upset in my mind and psychologically hesitated to try it.

Regarding dog meat, I have seen in restaurant in Cheju, Korea that they serve it in Shabu Shabu style – sliced raw meat and slighty dip in hot broth over stove.

Moreover, Koreans eat it in summer while Chinese eat it in winter.

[Guest Chan]

I don’t know that people in Shanghai eat snake too.

He could have eaten it anywhere else, I am not sure.

I have no opinion towards dog eating. But I have heard the last sighs of dogs when they were killed in the butchery house during the morning stroll in the grocery market in Guangdong.

Even though I could not see the scene, I was very upset in my mind and psychologically hesitated to try it.

Well when you think deeper, it sometimes seems cruel, but pigs, cows and chicken also are living-beeings and can feel pain just as the dog!

I think chickens mostly even have a more cruel life. Living all time in dark, unimgainable small cages with bad air, sleeping in their excrements, to get killed hopefully soon.

The further I think about it, the more chances there are that I get a vegetarian

[geek_frappa]

we eat snakes here.

but not dogs.

[Quest]

dogs cry when they know you are going to kill them.

[geek_frappa]

in America, some people leave their house, car and money for their dogs after they die....

[Nephand]

the world is full of homeless dogs...

There world's full of homeless people too... I'll get my chopsticks!

Having two dogs in our family, and lived around them all my life, I could never knowingly eat dog meat. Chickens are often quite well raised over here - not to say all are - but free range eggs and so on are better. That's usually the only meat I eat. Occasionally some pork and less rarely [or less willingly] cow.

I couldn't stand life without meat... I don't eat most vegetables/fruits. I'd wither away without a nice chicken sandwich

[eric]

hahaha

dog stew is supposed to make you feel hot (like ginseng tea i guess) zhuang yang qi de ma?

[Bamboo Grove]

Guangzhou is a good place to eat both dog and snake. Used to go to a snake restaurant there quite often in the late eighties. Here in Thailand snake or its blood consumption is minimal but we have other yummies such as scorpions, grasshoppers, beetles etc.

[tetsuo500]

I only ate dog once. Nothing much to tell really, it was pretty boring. I would only recommend it to try, just so you know what all the hype is about. Or if you want to freak someone out who's turned off by the idea. That's always a good idea to eat anything.

Fun tip: If you plan on going to a dog restaurant with someone who's a bit squeemish, tell them they have to pick the dog they want to eat while it is still alive.

[Ian_Lee]

Actually you cannot tell that it is dog meat without anybody telling you even though you see it yourself.

In the nightime marketplace in Guangzhou, it used to be that there are many Dai Pai Dong (open food stalls) which sell dog meat. All those dog meat are hanged up like roasted suckling pigs without the heads.

If you don't look at it in detail, you can't tell it is dog meat.

In fact, the display is quite enticing.

Usually Cantonese stew the dog meat for hours with certain kind of Chinese vegetable. However, the odor is so strong that even people from several blocks away can smell it during the stewing.

In the '60s, many police just caught these dog-eaters by the smell in Hong Kong.

[Guest Yau]

I was in Ha-noi 3 months ago. Getting into a restaurant, lots of puppies played around the customers. They were simply cute and funny, and i gave food to them, took their hand.

And finally, the waiter said you could eat them, if you'd like to. It really shocked me though i never oppose to eat dogs or snakes.

[sunyata]

lol, to me it's funny that when you think of a complete cultural immersion, you only mention eating dogs and snakes? Surely, there are more things to Chinese culture to be immersed in. Cutting off a snake's tail and sucking it's blood won't make you feel any more Chinese than you already are...

[berylchan]

Hey, actually, there are not only dogs and snakes. People eats cats, rabbit, monkey brains...

Dog meat is quite common in GuangDong, even cats & rabbit. And I've ever tried fry scorpion, very small one. It's not bad...