Wild Delicacies - have you tasted them?
While attending the annual dinner for the 5th.Colorectal Weekend Conference, the topic of the food varieties came up for discussion.
My professional colleague started by saying that the Chinese has voracious appetite for the strangest things. It seems there is a famous saying among the Chinese that says that “anything that has their “back” facing the sun, is edible” This basically means that any four legged animal or being can be eaten.
From the other end of the round table, my non-Chinese medical officer blurted out a Chinese delicacy - suckling pig
It takes 2 days to prepare this dish and “because protein firms as it cooks, the pig will stay in whatever position you place it. It should resemble a dog resting on its haunches.”
Next on topic was Peking Duck, a famous duck dish from northeastern China and also known as Beijing Duck or Beijing Roast Duck.Traditionally served with Mandarin pancakes, and green onions for brushing on the hoisin sauce. Well, what is so weird is that, it is inflated with a pump or other object, separating the skin from the body (in ancient times someone with strong lungs would achieve this by blowing through a straw). Then the skin is scalded with boiling water to make it drier and tauter and brushed with molasses so that it acquires a dark, rich color with the slight aroma of caramel during the subsequent cooking process. After drying for half a day, the duck is hung by its neck in a hot oven where it is roasted for an hour or more, during which time the copious fat of the duck melts off and the skin becomes crispy.
Then the topic got even more interesting with various meals being blurted out. All this made eating frogs and snake very mild as this professional colleague of mine continued to surprise me as to what and where his taste buds have travelled.
Bear’s gallbladder is another famous delicacies among the Orientals. “China, North Korea and South Korea are now farming bears for their bile in order to meet the needs of its traditional medicine industry. The bears on the farms are milked for their bile by placing a surgically implanted catheter into their gallbladders. As many as 8,000 bears live on these farms in China alone. Although the milking process is not painful to the bears it is stressful due to the fact that the bears spend their entire lives in small cramped cages. Chinese scientists are now spending time and money on researching how to increase productivity on these bear farms and have forgotten the needs of wild bears. The demand for gallbladders from wild bears is still strong as some people believe the farmed bile to be inferior to that found in nature.”
Bear paw is a delicacy on menus in China. Some Imperial Chinese cookbooks include recipes for stewed bear’s paw and bear spare-rib casserole. Bear meat is sometimes eaten and it is believed to prevent colds, strengthen the body, provide relief from rheumatism and beri-beri. Paws, like the meat, are also considered to have medicinal properties.
Then it went to brains, monkey and much later cow’s brain.
The list continued to people from various countries and their delicacies. One of them at the table confessed to eating dog meat and claims it taste like lamb. This is a delicacy of the Indo-Chinese.
So, tell me what was the most exotic that you have eaten? Care to share?
March 3rd, 2007 at 3:49 am
so disgustinglah! How could anyone eat those beautiful bear, monkey and dog?
March 3rd, 2007 at 6:28 am
Don’t go for the exotic. Does that mean I am not a pure Chinese?
March 3rd, 2007 at 9:10 am
Well suraj and sara, people do out of curiosity usually but like my colleague say, ” Everyone is curious but to take it that extra mile, there must be the genetic make-up for it”.
Maybe not just me, as for the statement above!
March 5th, 2007 at 12:17 am
Alamak George….don’t know which is worse. Your medical pictures or these exotic food pictures.
See already, also want to puke. I always joke at my dinner table when I have my Western friends over for a meal that we Chinese eat anything with its back facing the sun and then go on to tell them about how a monkey’s brains are eaten. But, in reality, I am not into weird ‘exotic’ foods if it calls for cruelty.
I don’t mind suckling pigs but dogs? Monkey brains? Bear’s gallbladder????
March 5th, 2007 at 9:42 am
i agree with judy. you and doc bernard and your pictures…. every lulu’s squirmish nighmare.
my suckling pig story. the 1st time i had it was about 5-6 years back. they serve the whole thing, head to tail to you. my sis and i tapau-ed the head, put it to a container, and gave it to my nephew. think he was about 6-7 years old. he opened the container. saw the head staring at him, and freaked.
thank goodness it was a momentary moment of freaking out. no permanent damage as he today can stomach suckling pigs.
March 5th, 2007 at 4:20 pm
OK so I suppose many Chinese have tried suckling pigs. How does it taste?
Judy, the medical pictures aren’t that bad or have I become immune to it??
Lulu thanks for coming over. That is quite a prank you played!
March 5th, 2007 at 6:51 pm
I dowan to tell you what illegal animal i’ve eaten before lah.
… but that was in Sarawak.
Dog… when i visited Hanoi, right next to the hotel there was a market in a small lane. They were selling whole dogs. All skinned and smoked. Perfectly the same shape and size. Probably reared in farms as “broiler” dogs. Maybe.
March 6th, 2007 at 2:12 pm
hi, first time visiting. i’ve heard and watched and read about all these, but they never fail to still make me sick to the guts each and every time i do so. those poor animals! yet being a chinese, i do have my fair share of exotic food while i was china. i think it was some kind of worms? and eel and one of those big lizards.. and here in aust. now.. roo meat
March 7th, 2007 at 5:16 am
Bernard - share the infolah? Have you tried the dogs in Hanoi?
Sweetpea, you seem to enjoy them! What’s the taste like?
March 10th, 2007 at 2:34 pm
Illegal d how to share? Hehe. OK lah.. it was a labi-labi.
March 10th, 2007 at 9:33 pm
Labi-labi is a large soft-shelled river terrapin, locally known as labi-labi. It is an endangered species under protection.
How does it taste like?
May 16th, 2007 at 8:14 am
Doctor George:
is it “Labi-Labi} in chinese? we call “Shui Yu?” = Water Fish …rrr..when i go back to my hometown.. KP. my favourite “Shui Yu Herbal Noddles soup woh…”..tai wok…rrr.. will not eat this anymore.. (feel so guilty)
well.. yes.. we chinese. especially.. china.. country..
eating Duck, Fox~chinese call “Ye Mei”(wild taste),
Dogs with Bak Kut Teh(in china) (In malaysia they put pigs,or chicken),
Pigs(the picture you shown to us actually is what we chinese call “Ru Zhu”~Baby Pig,
Snakes(very the normal eaten by chinese races in china)，
Monkey ~the essence of brain only” ,Bear’s gallbladder is considering a fine dinner,
but i think.. now all these are being banned ledy …okay..
in sin seh (chinese physicians) teaching, lipas, the centipede
are considering with medicine effects..
in chinese we have a famous medicine founder call “HUA TOH”..if u understand what i said…
emm.. so far.. i have eaten..(not the meat lah, the herbal soup only (*0*) “labi-labi~Shui Yu”?? with herbal noddles soup.. (famous dishes in KP,Negeri Sembilan)..will not drink this herbal soup anymore..
so far… nothing to tell.. because i am a half vegetarian but i do eat eggs and drink milk..
i dont eat fish = x, pig = x,
chicken (rare) = x = unless it’s KFC (fingers licking good!)..
sorry.. .. i never eat meat actually..
but please forgive me…. as i do.. eat..drink.. Bird Nest everyday…..(cause my hubby(MIL) dealing in Bird Nest processing Bussines… whole family feel sorry if we didnt take bird nest everynight…as its free…of… charge to us…)
i am real sorry….
anyway.. thank you for the info..
really enjoy reading your blog..
thank you so much Doctor George.