Crazy Eating Habits

[soundman]

A few weeks ago, I returned to work just before lunch, only to find that half of my staff were missing. I looked around, half expecting a practical joke, however, they had truly disappeared. I heard giggling in the distance, followed the sound & found the missing staff members sitting in the back of an un-used godown. They were huddled around a small open fire cooking, would you believe, a great big, furry, smelly sewer rat!!! Heard the stories, but never actually seen one being eaten. Yuck.

To top that off, this evening I came back from a day at Suan Plu. Once again the staff were cooking. I asked what, they told me, I couldn’t believe I had heard correctly, so I asked them to show me. They were cooking “ging ga” or in English, little dragon lizards, by the hundred’s!!! If I had never traveled to Asia, I reckon I would have been sick…

Anyone else actually witnessed some way-out cuisine?

Cheers,

Soundman.

[draggons]

got a great wee shack just up the road from the house that only serves "field food" rice rats, frogs, snake, squrills and assorted other wee beasties. Missus refuses to go near the place!

[plachon]

A few weeks ago, I returned to work just before lunch, only to find that half of my staff were missing. I looked around, half expecting a practical joke, however, they had truly disappeared. I heard giggling in the distance, followed the sound & found the missing staff members sitting in the back of an un-used godown. They were huddled around a small open fire cooking, would you believe, a great big, furry, smelly sewer rat!!! Heard the stories, but never actually seen one being eaten. Yuck.

To top that off, this evening I came back from a day at Suan Plu. Once again the staff were cooking. I asked what, they told me, I couldn’t believe I had heard correctly, so I asked them to show me. They were cooking “ging ga” or in English, little dragon lizards, by the hundred’s!!! If I had never traveled to Asia, I reckon I would have been sick…

Anyone else actually witnessed some way-out cuisine?

Cheers,

Soundman.

Sounds like you've got Isaan's finest working for you there Soundman.

Nowt like a nice tasty barbequed rat on a stick to get the old juices running. Pad ped noo ain't bad neither.

But, don't deny 'em there little culinary pleasures in life, as it's what keeps Isaan folk happy - a wee dram of lao kao and some assorted ahaan paa. Bet the rat was not from any sewer, but was a field rat, which are an altogether different breed of rodent. Much more refined than Rattus norvegicus.

By the way, has the wee girl in the pic just farted, or do you always look like that?

[soundman]

A few weeks ago, I returned to work just before lunch, only to find that half of my staff were missing. I looked around, half expecting a practical joke, however, they had truly disappeared. I heard giggling in the distance, followed the sound & found the missing staff members sitting in the back of an un-used godown. They were huddled around a small open fire cooking, would you believe, a great big, furry, smelly sewer rat!!! Heard the stories, but never actually seen one being eaten. Yuck.

To top that off, this evening I came back from a day at Suan Plu. Once again the staff were cooking. I asked what, they told me, I couldn't believe I had heard correctly, so I asked them to show me. They were cooking "ging ga" or in English, little dragon lizards, by the hundred's!!! If I had never traveled to Asia, I reckon I would have been sick…

Anyone else actually witnessed some way-out cuisine?

Cheers,

Soundman.

Sounds like you've got Isaan's finest working for you there Soundman.

Nowt like a nice tasty barbequed rat on a stick to get the old juices running. Pad ped noo ain't bad neither.

But, don't deny 'em there little culinary pleasures in life, as it's what keeps Isaan folk happy - a wee dram of lao kao and some assorted ahaan paa. Bet the rat was not from any sewer, but was a field rat, which are an altogether different breed of rodent. Much more refined than Rattus norvegicus.

By the way, has the wee girl in the pic just farted, or do you always look like that?

try half a bottle of lao kao per person...

That wee girl is my lovely daughter, and she had just kicked me in the balls!! (Probably instucted on such manouver by my great wife)

Cheers,

Soundman.

[colino]

im in angthong and on the market is yes rat along with terripins yum yum as well as very large frogs my brother inlaw loves the small frogs you can get at talad thia rangsit live and croaking take home and fry for a couple of mins but the worst thing iv seen is at punsap market rangsit where people were buying fresh buffalo afterbirth they say its luverly il take there word for it

[undercover]

My girl eats live shrimp, Ive seen them jump out her mouth while talking to friends when eating. Rat is what they realy want but its thin on the ground round here !

[colino]

oh yer i forgot about them little fresh water shrimps my wife eats em with sticky rice then puts whats left in the fridge for the next day she has just told me of an food shack up essan way where dog is on the menu and when you order it they bring you the dogs head to show you your eating the real thing yuk yuk and double yuk

[soundman]

im in angthong and on the market is yes rat along with terripins yum yum as well as very large frogs my brother inlaw loves the small frogs you can get at talad thia rangsit live and croaking take home and fry for a couple of mins but the worst thing iv seen is at punsap market rangsit where people were buying fresh buffalo afterbirth they say its luverly il take there word for it

that takes first prize at the buriram food festival.. (you are serious of course??)

Soundman.

[colino]

yes gods honest truth its gross if you want any thing special for that up and comind sonkran dinner party pop along to rangsit

[meadish_sweetball]

Buffalo placenta is really eaten as a soup dish, I can confirm...

[colino]

ps good topic some one should make a top 20 list

[duratanium]

Out one day and looking round a market stall and saw one of those boards with all the 'plastic' insects pinned to it and the g/f pointing out all the ones she ate ... beetles, cockroaches etc.

Brings a whole new meaning to the thought of 'Kellogg's Crunchy Nut Breakfast'

What really turned my stomach a bit was seeing the live frogs, partially skinned, with the skin tied up around their heads and still trying to hop about ..... at least U could see they were fresh.

[colino]

that beats mine

[soundman]

Went to a mates wedding in KK about fifteen months ago. There were about 10 aussie guys there. The wedding was chinese style menu (dto jeen). After consuming a delicious soup, one of the thailand first timers asked what it was. I told him it was fish guts (maw) & he propmtly regurgitated the whole lot onto the floor.

Soundman.

[Tony Clifton]

Caught a rat in a cage at our shop a few days ago. Took the shop`s motorcycle to go home and drown it in a bucket like I usualy do, ran out of gas at the security booth. Security guy sees the rat in the cage and asks what I`m going to do with it, I gestured by running a finger across my throat. He started talking about food, like he wanted to eat it. Standing in the hot sun, I just kept on going pushing the bike back to the shop. I`ll offer the rat next time, see what happens.

[britmaveric]

Hmmm Gekko(s) are rather tastey, not sure about the rat though.

[sriracha john]

One of my favorites that I enjoyed in the Philippines....

Gently sautéed dog with stir-fry vegetables in a ginger sauce.... mmmmm...

Here, I guess my best bet to look for it is Sakon Nakhon

[qwertz]

I could handle that, SJ, I just haven't progressed to bugs, maggots and worms yet.

[ronw]

You are victims of your upbringing.....do you not realise that most rodents have been bred for food for many years in the past.....hamsters, guinea pigs, gerbils, rabbits, etc...??? originally these were not bred as pets,but as a ready store of food.

Even in the U.S of A, it is not too long in the past that tree rats were a major component of diet for many rural folk!

Golly gosh...they even developed a special rifle for hunting them.....I refer , of course , to the Kentucky squirrel rifle....which was accurate enough to kill the little beast with a head shot, so as not to spoil the meat...

And speaking of eating dog.....I went to a eating house in Sumatera, and was offered the choice from a small litter of live pups...all wriggling and yapping!!!

[Totster]

We eat rat regularly in the village (along with frogs, ant eggs and other creepy crawlies), although according to the wife, she wouldn't eat a rat that was caught in Bangkok... maybe she's just a fussy eater..

totster

[peter991]

I must confess I am a bit squeamish about eating bugs. I haven't seen his family eating them. My Issan BF likes them - but at the local markets I haven't seen many bugs for sale.

Quote from Natural Sciences magazine:

Patrick Grootaert, head of our Entomology Department, takes part in projects throughout South East Asia. This gives him many opportunities to sample the local cuisine: "No group of insects is shunned here: beetles, bees, grasshoppers, termites... you name it! And they are even eaten at different stages: adults are considered as tasty as larvae."

"Insect eating is common practice among most peoples", Patrick goes on. "In this part of the world, they used to drink mead: a mixture of crushed and fermented honeycombs with the bee larvae still in them."

Live healthy, eat insects!Insects are not only delicious, but also very nutritious. 100 g of dried insect contains 30 to 70 g proteins, what is similar to beef and pork. Moreover, insects are crammed with vitamins and minerals!

Insects can certainly contribute to the daily food intake. This is shown in a recent study of the FAO (Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations): 70 to 90 percent of the inhabitants of Central Africa consume insects. The FAO favours an increase in food security in promoting edible insects.

Insects are also economically important: not only do local farmers sell their harvests on the market, but there is a significant international trade in edible insects. Moreover, insect eating is environmentally friendlier: insect breeding demands less space and energy than cattle breeding and is far less polluting. Insect harvesting can even be a means of biological pest control.

And what about you?You have certainly swallowed lots of insects in your life… and not only when cycling. Flour, bread, chocolate, coffee, tinned or frozen vegetables, and many other products may contain ground bits of insects…

But insects are even purposely added to Western foods: Smarties, Campari, lipstick and yoghurt owe their pink colour to scale insects. That’s what the E120 label stands for.

So you probably shouldn’t worry too much if you occasionally swap your pork dish for some grasshoppers or mealworms. Over the next pages you can find out more information about the use of insects and other critters and… some recipes to try at home!

"Not many insects are bred at the moment", says Patrick Grootaert, "most species are simply caught and consumed when they are abundant in nature. One exception are silkworms, since they are an edible by-product of silk industry. Sustainable use is not yet adopted here."

Sustainable use makes up an important part of several projects in South-eastern Asia. Patrick Grootaert: "People in Cambodia often burn bee nests after they have taken the honey out, which obviously is not very sustainable. One of our employees is now touring the villages to see which bee species are present, and to talk with the inhabitants about a forward-looking use."

Peter

[sriracha john]

With the exception of the Insect Kingdom, I will say there's not many species of life forms on this planet that I haven't tried, eg. horse, dog, monkey, lizard, snake, squirrel, rabbit, frogs, eels, etc. etc. etc.,

but just to provide some reassurance to the TV membership, I will categorically state and affirm that I have not, nor will I ever, indulge in:

[sutnyod]

Make a big sign and hang it over your desk:

"If you can't beat it - eat it"

Look at it twice a day.

For side effects please consult your local physician.

[Gary A]

I recently read an article that said Pattaya was capturing stray dogs and shipping them to Northeast Thailand. HMMMM, wonder why they are shipping them there? I live in Loei province and a truck comes around regularly. It has plastic buckets that they trade for unwanted dogs. The dogs are then taken to Laos. A friend of mine has a useless dog that kills chickens, ducks, geese and anything else it can find. It also occasionally bites people. I have nicknamed it bucket. I have no idea why anyone would keep a dog like that.

[andook]

You people worry me. You've all gone "troppo!"

Ok, I've eaten a few dodgy things; snake, frog, "bird", etc. But eating dogs is f*cking sick, imo. The preserve of a culture that doesn't know how to train, use, or control their breeding...

[peter991]

Gary A: That truck comes through our Issan village about once a fortnight. Stray dogs are traded for 10 litre black plastic buckets. The truck then goes to Laos.

Peter

[h90]

A few weeks ago, I returned to work just before lunch, only to find that half of my staff were missing. I looked around, half expecting a practical joke, however, they had truly disappeared. I heard giggling in the distance, followed the sound & found the missing staff members sitting in the back of an un-used godown. They were huddled around a small open fire cooking, would you believe, a great big, furry, smelly sewer rat!!! Heard the stories, but never actually seen one being eaten. Yuck.

To top that off, this evening I came back from a day at Suan Plu. Once again the staff were cooking. I asked what, they told me, I couldn’t believe I had heard correctly, so I asked them to show me. They were cooking “ging ga” or in English, little dragon lizards, by the hundred’s!!! If I had never traveled to Asia, I reckon I would have been sick…

Anyone else actually witnessed some way-out cuisine?

Cheers,

Soundman.

not all it such things......

My wife is more shocked than you (deep south) but eat everything what can swim in the beach

[Gimbo]

Yup, field rats and boiled silk worms have been on the menu for me in Isaan. The silkworms tasted rather bland. But the rat was very good. Love the stuff.

[peter991]

sriracha john: Funny you should mention cannabalism. Flashback to 6 years ago. First time in Thailand. Only Thai I knew was sawatdee krap/ka. I was in a Bangkok metered taxi and asked the taxi driver what sort of food he liked to eat. He replied: 'Farang.' Just as well I didn't know what a 'farang' was or I would have been out of the taxi like a shot.

I wonder if he was joking?

Edit: Spelling

Peter

[soundman]

sriracha john: Funny you should mention cannabalism. Flashback to 6 years ago. First time in Thailand. Only Thai I knew was sawatdee krap/ka. I was in a Bangkok metered taxi and asked the taxi driver what sort of food he liked to eat. He replied: 'Farang.' Just as well I didn't know what a 'farang' was or I would have been out of the taxi like a shot.

I wonder if he was joking?

Edit: Spelling

Peter

Maybe he was referring to potatoes?? (mun farung)

Soundman.