Cambodian rat meat: A growing export market

[moondust]

This discussion thread was locked as off-topic by Sissyk (a host of the Latest Breaking News forum).

Source: BBC

A unique harvest is under way in the rice fields of Cambodia where tens of thousands of wild rats are being trapped alive each day to feed a growing export market for the meat of rural rodents.

~more~



Read more: http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-28863315

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Yikes.

[KG]

1. grain fed all natural!

[Kablooie]

2. I'll be it will be expensive at Whole Foods.

[pipoman]

3. I have wondered why rodent farming

Hasn't been a bigger food source.

[hobbit709]

4. Get your fried rat on a stick.

[Lochloosa]

5. If you haven't read it try "King Rat ". Great book.

James Clavell author.

[Zorro]

10. Yes indeed

Great book. Based on his POW experiences.

Powerful stuff.

[L0oniX]

6. Hmmmm ...something about rat fuckers.

[jtuck004]

7. Ben is watching from a corner... n/t

[840high]

8. Yuck - shudders.

[immoderate]

9. Tastes like chicken.

--imm

[davidpdx]

11. A bit more of the article

Popularly considered a disease-carrying nuisance in many societies, the rice field rats, Rattus argentiventer, of this small South-East Asian nation are considered a healthy delicacy due to their free-range lifestyle and largely organic diet.

snip

"Wild rats are very different. They eat different food," said Mr Chhim, explaining with a gourmand's intensity the difference between rice-field rats and their urban cousins, which he considers vermin unfit for the cooking pot.

Common rats "are dirty and they have a lot of scabies on their skin," Mr Chhim said. "That's why we don't catch them."

Somewhat proudly he listed off the superior eating habits of the rats he had caught the night before: rice stalks, the vegetable crops of unlucky local farmers, and the roots of wild plants.

snip

"After the harvest season the rats don't have much food to eat, so it is a good time to catch them," he said, unloading his motorcycle of several large, steel cages filled with rats at the home of the local rat trader.

Though rat meat tastes "a bit like pork," Mr Chhim said it was not really his preferred meal.

[davidpdx]

13. It's funny because someone posted a picture of dog meat being sold in South Korea

and condemned the practice just last week. I don't condone the practice of it being done here in Korea, but at the same time it is part of their culture (a part that is slowly fading as well).

It is also worth noting that that article states this rats are eaten in Vietnam as well.

Personally I'd rather starve than eat either dog or rat meat.

and now for the obligatory rat burger video:

[Sissyk]

14. Locking.

Consensus is that this is more a Feature Article and would be more applicable in GD, or another forum.

Thank you!