Dog flavour

[ianvestor]

Sooooo... Last night I ate dog meat.

It's such a Korean stereotype that a couple of days ago I asked my wife "Why haven't I eaten dog meat yet?!". She looked surprised as most Koreans actually don't really eat it, and said "You want to try it? I'll let my dad know". (Even she's never eaten it and has no desire to try it). I told her "I can't imagine it tasting like chicken, yet I can't imagine it tasting like beef... I just can't imagine it tasting like anything!". She said "Apparently it's like beef but yummier". But she still doesn't want to try it. In some circles it's also bad luck to eat it.

Anyway the very next day around 5pm she told me that the in-laws would be taking me out to a dog-meat restaurant that night, while she stayed at home with bub! I suddenly got a bit nervous... I wanted to try it but now that we were actually booked in and there was no backing out, all sorts of images ran through my head, like what if I actually hate it, spit out the first mouthful and then I'd be wasting my inlaws time/money, etc on making an occasion of taking me out to a restaurant.

Well the 3 of us got to the restaurant and chose a table (by the way, my Korean is very minimal, and they speak practically no English either, so if I needed to say "Holy sh*t this it horrible!", I wouldn't have been able to. First food to come out was all the little side dishes that usually accompany a Korean meal; Spinach, onion, carrot sticks, sauces, etc. plus one side dish of dog stomach. Yes, they start with the best bits! With a picture of fido in my head I tried a couple of pieces and was not particularly impressed but fortunately didn't need to hurl either.

You know how a taste can remind you of a smell or visa versa? Well, the taste of this dog meat reminded me of the smell of a wet dog. Not pleasant. Here's hoping the main meal doesn't taste like this...!

So finally we had the gas burner in the middle of the table going as the main meal was set on it, cooking away. I tried a piece of meat from here and it was so much better. I was told by MIL (roughly, and with body language) that the earlier side-dish was stomach, but this meat was the good stuff - from the legs. It certainly was better, but I was still having a bit of trouble eating it. After a few more bites I finally decided that the revulsion was just my mind playing tricks on me and if I just stop and think about it logically for a second, the meat is actually quite tasty.

YEAH!

By the end of the meal I was just eating it all up and almost forgot it was fido. And my guesses were right; It doesn't taste anything like chicken, it doesn't taste anything like beef... it doesn't taste like any other meat I've ever had. I still have no idea what breed it was or whether or not it was killed humanely, etc, etc. but all-in-all I can say dog-meat is yummy! Not that I have any desire whatsoever to eat it ever, ever again

-Ian

p.s. Really looking forward to some Aussie grub when I get back!

 

[weg]

Some time ago I went to an Aboriginal dinner where they served snake, goanna, w/grubs and more, which I can't remember of now off the top of my head.

I had a compulsion to try everything and that was tough going.

I really don't think I could go there with dog however, even as a cat lover .

 

[gg1965]

It is really only your mind causing your hesitation.

In our culture, dogs are loved and are considered a part of the family. In some asian cultures though, dogs are not as loved as they are here and are readily eaten and they are seen as another animal that has meat on it.

We don't loose sleep when eating beef, but ask an Indian (Hindu) to eat a cow and they wouldn't be able too. Ask a Muslim to eat port and they won't be able to.

But in reality, it is all meat. It was once a living creature and you are taking benefit from eating it.

Cast your mind back 40 odd years to the Great Leap Foward and many people in China were starving so anything that moved, and had meat on it, was fair game. Ripe for picking so they say. That is one of the main reasons that it was very hard to find any living birds in a large chinese city (as they were hunted and eaten).

The issue of dogs though - to put it simply, they are thought of in a different manner in some areas of asia compared to how they are thought of here. But if you ever wonder how these things came to be, then put yourself in a situation where it was either starvation for you - or a meal from fido, or possibly some meat off your dead neighbour. Then what would you do?



g

 

[ianvestor]

I had a compulsion to try everything and that was tough going.

I have the same basic desire and get myself into regular trouble here in Korea. A few weeks ago one of the side dishes was um... well it looked like fried cockroaches, and I was just out with FIL who was paying, so to stop eating them would have been way too rude. And to my horror when I finally got through the plate, the waitress saw the empty plate and refilled it.

I found out later from my wife that it was actually fried coocooned catapillars. As in, fried semi-developed moths/butterflies. And it tastes just like it sounds. The plate is eaten with an alcoholic drink, similar to how pubs in Aus serve peanuts with the beer.

I'm keen to try snake though. I imagine that would be very flavoursome.

-Ian

 

[gg1965]

I'm keen to try snake though. I imagine that would be very flavoursome.

-Ian

they serve snake in Taiwan. They even go through rituals in showing how poisonous the snake is (by throwing a poor mouse in there and the snake kills the mouse). then they get the snake out, while it is alive, cut it open in a few places to get a few organs out. then milk the blood out of it, then slit it in one go down the belly and get the remaining organs out (meanwhile the snake has carked it). then stick some organs in a broth type of thing, cut the meat and stick that in a separate soup, and then serve it as 2 separate dishes. first hte soup with the meat in it and then the organs.

no broken necks or bangs over the head to kill it. instead, they cut it open while it is alive and remove the organs.

once again, a living creature has been ritually killed and cooked for the benefit of humans.

and some people complain that we are cruel when we shoot kangaroos and leave them dead in paddocks as they are pests.


g

 

[Aaron Sice]

weirdest meat i've ever eaten is....."crocodile tongue"....in a funny little restaraunt in Subiaco.

odd texture - but again, just a very odd chicken/turkey.

but i'll eat anything once. well, except for sheeps eyeball like Ben Grylls...

 

[weg]

I really can't recall what the snake tasted like as I had tried at lease 5 or 6 unusual foods, and that was quite a few years ago.

I do remember each tasted different and mostly unique but not awful however I still had to try to refrain from pulling faces or gaging.

My compulsion to try everything stemmed from that fact that it was an opportunity to experience something that I possible would not have again.

 

[Aaron Sice]

oh! garlic snails were good. they were just like garlic sausages.

 

[lizzie]

sorry - but the thought of eating dog meat makes "me" want to hurl!

actually, the thought of eating any carnivore makes me feel queasy - dog, cat, bear, even pig (yes, they are carnivore). not sure why, but i'm sure i've get over the squemish-ness if starving.

although , bear grils (sp? man versus wild) eating maggots last night nearly made me lose my dinner.

 

[jaycee]

haha I was settling down to my dinner, turned the tv on nd it was on SBS, I heard Ben sy something like "this meat is infested with maggots, while I dont want to eaat any of the meat, I can get protein from these maggots" so I changed the channel quick smart

 

[Simon]

You know how a taste can remind you of a smell or visa versa? Well, the taste of this dog meat reminded me of the smell of a wet dog. Not pleasant. Here's hoping the main meal doesn't taste like this...!

That is exactly how I described dog meat when I ate it in Vietnam. But I didn't find it improved at all over the meal and I felt sick by the end of it.

I have a strong stomach too and don't have any problems trying all sorts of stuff.

I just found dog to be quite unpalatable.

 

[Deena]

I do wish you did not post a photo of a labrador.....

30 odd years ago, we had a delightful banquet meal in China, we were told afterwards that we had eaten monkey. Could not have told you which dish it was and there were a few of the dishes which I would not have chosen but over all it was delightful and very helpful I did not know what I was eating.

 

[The Y-man]

It doesn't taste anything like chicken, it doesn't taste anything like beef... it doesn't taste like any other meat I've ever had. !

I remember an episode of the Hairy Bikers in Saigon.

They asked for the most expensive dish at a street cafe. As they ate it, they were debating what (roasted) meat it was - saying it tasted a bit between duck and pork.

One of them later talks further to the waiter, and comes back saying, "I think we just ate Rover..."

http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/tv_and_radio/hairybikers_index.shtml


Cheers,

The Y-man

 

[Indifference]

I do wish you did not post a photo of a labrador.....

30 odd years ago, we had a delightful banquet meal in China, we were told afterwards that we had eaten monkey. Could not have told you which dish it was and there were a few of the dishes which I would not have chosen but over all it was delightful and very helpful I did not know what I was eating.

LMAO I had a somewhat similar experience in Borneo (Sabah - to be exact) that involved a street market stall, a young hungary tourist (ignorant idiot in hindsight) and a plate of curry......

Well I hate organs and offal, but the curry masked it well. suffice to say I was eating a four legged fiend and it was not the 'good stuff' !!!

Surprisingly though, when I found out as a consequence of my own enquiry to the stall vendor, I didn't hurl........ I just gritted my teeth and kept on eating........ yep, makes me feel sick to the bottom of my stomach now though.

 

[Jamie M]

Yep, been there, done that.....won't be doing it again!

We (about 6 dirty/cheap backpackers from UK/Oz/Germany) had a big night in Yangshuo, China. We decided to try some snake.....felt brave and moved onto rat meat......drank more.....got braver......moved onto dog meat.....and then......cat meat.

Woke up the next day with the worlds worst hang over and the taste of domestic animals in my mouth. Not my proudest moment - but when in Rome.

I hope my pugs never find out

Oh, and IMO, the dog meat tasted bad - couldn't get passed that psychological barrier.

Cheers,

Jamie

 

[Tizzy]

Oh my goodness this thread was hard to read! Main reason being my clenched jaw I think. As others have said though, when in Rome...

I'd be really hopeless if I was starving. I'd be almost dead before giving in and eating a dog or a cat or a rat. Though must admit that the idea of eating some crunchy insect revolts me more. I'm a total coward when it comes to trying stuff like that.

 

[Peter_Tersteeg]

I don't think I could do it. Our dogs are part of the family. For me it would be like eating your own children.

 

[fernfurn]

Have tasted the usual crocodile, kangaroo etc. but could never stomach dog meat. way too much psychological factor. I have eaten camel at Uluru though, tasted like corned beef. Whether they had cured it that way or not I dont know, camel is pretty big to get through so perhaps they had preserved it.

 

[steveadl]

I realise cows and chickens are animals the same as cats and dogs (and I've seen how they are often mistreated too) - but it's horrendous the way the dogs/cats are treated by some in Asia (ie. the people bringing it to your plate), and think it's quite disgusting to take part in it in any shape or form....

Dogs are eaten in large numbers in China, Vietnam and Korea. The cruelty is often deliberate and slaughter methods are designed to intensify and prolong the suffering in the misguided belief that torture equals taste.

In situations where the torture is not deliberate, the method of slaughter is still tragically cruel. Markets in China employ killing methods that leave both dogs and cats suffering a lingering, violent death as they are either bludgeoned over the head, stabbed in the neck or groin, hanged, electrocuted or thrown conscious into drums of boiling water.

The cages were piled three and four high and many dogs below were lying there with urine and faeces covering their bodies as it cascaded down from the terrified animals in the cages above. Several of the dogs were frantically clawing and biting at the cage bars and mesh, and I don't think any of us will forget the sense of confusion and betrayal in their eyes.

You might also be interested to know that to save on costs, a large number of the dogs that end up as food are pets stolen from neighbourhoods (to save the dealers on costs and time of raising them to adult size), and chances are due to the terrible conditions they're kept in before being put to death - the dog you ate probably had at least one of a number of infectious diseases such as rabies.

mmmmmm yum!

 

[Invest]

Dogs and cats are not for eating. Koreans have no regard for domestic pets