[Sunny]

Source: http://news.bbc.co.u...ess/7230233.stm

Not surprising I've eaten farm rats before so I can't say 'yuck'

Thai fast food sellers are enjoying a boom in rat sales, as people learn to love the taste of the rodent.

While rat has long been eaten in Thailand's poorer northern regions, a growing number of the country's roadside vendors are now serving it up.

The rats are drowned and sold uncooked or ready to eat, with happy customers purchasing rat meat for as much as 150 baht ($4.82; £2.30) a kilogram.

"It's better than chicken," one customer told the AP news agency.

'Nothing can compete'

"It all depends what you like, but it's a normal meat like any other," added Thongyu Roruchit.

One rat seller, Sala Prompim, said that the hip and liver were the best cuts.

"It's tastier than other meats - nothing can compete with rat," he added.

Mr Prompim said he only used rats caught from rice fields, and not those found in towns or cities.

"They are definitely clean," he said.

The animals are killed by drowning, before being skinned ready for cooking - poached, fried, grilled or baked.

Mr Prompim says he sells as much as 100kg of rat meat on some days.

[pam]

That is nasty The sight of seeing a rat freaks me out already, and to be eating one just gives me butterflies!!! Only things I eat are mostly chicken, fish, shrimp or seafood and rarely do I eat beef or pork.

[katerine]

Rat not my food choice rather stuve then eat rat

[pam]

I'd think I'll starve too

[Sunny]

Are you sure? its cooked of course LOL, i ate them while I was young so yea i dont remember but to eat now. Umm.

[katerine]

yes i would starve i don't eat any thing smaller then my cat unless it's chicken

[Sunny]

LOL thats funny, I've ate red ants before though and their eggs, its so dang yummy!!!

[katerine]

eww i think my mum ate red ant not shaw but my rule still stand i might try when i go stay with my nan in thailand that a might

[AnNiE]

i don't know...i could never stomach that...

[Mai]

they're sold drowned? god that sounds so inhumane, but then again we eat all other meats. But it's still gross. Rats are gross as it is, imagine eating them

[Cecilia]

ew ..i wanna puke .. the thought of it is sick already

[Darvil]

interestingly the last time I went to Burma to see my grandfather (on my dad side) for the first time, I noticed rats were being sold on the street corner. Of course I felt a little disturbed about it but I was told that these rats are field rats and they eat only the grains from the farm. But still back then I wouldn't even consider eating rat meat.

Nowdays though, I think I would probably give it a try. Of course I would have alot of opportunities in the future to do that when I visit SE Asia again.

Alot of new yummy things to try out.

[noiki]

i remember seeing this on talard sod sanam pao where they visited a roadside stand that sold rats.

i can say i will never willingly eat a rat. people think pigs are dirty and don't them but aren't rats much more dirty?

and drowning them...well it is a bit more humane i think than brutally slaughtering an animal.

[Mai]

I dont think I can watch shows showing this. I watched a show once where they were chasing after a pig, and finally caught it and slaugtered it and it was screaming eee eee eeee I stopped eating pork for the longest time, now I barely eat it at all. Then when I finally did, it was only bacon.

But the same thing happens to cattle, chicken etc etc, but having not seen it, it's a different case

[Darvil]

Mai, on Feb 11 2008, 02:49 AM, said:

I dont think I can watch shows showing this. I watched a show once where they were chasing after a pig, and finally caught it and slaugtered it and it was screaming eee eee eeee I stopped eating pork for the longest time, now I barely eat it at all. Then when I finally did, it was only bacon.

But the same thing happens to cattle, chicken etc etc, but having not seen it, it's a different case

Mai you ever want to become a vegetarian? Well from what you typed to me I think you can become one. Just watch a bunch of poorly treated animals, cow, chicken etc etc. You can probably find some on PETA site or other similar sites like that.

If you are finally successful then I'll be sure to think of you when I am finally chowing down some rat.


noiki

Animals are as dirty as what they eat. Problem is our perception is coming in the way of entertaining our mouths with new sources of flavors. I think rats that only eat grains are definately more clean then pigs that eat excrements.