Rat Delicacy In Thailand

We're not talking ratatouille. That stuff's vegetarian.

In Thailand, roasted rodent meat has become something of a delicacy, according to a BBC report. More expensive than chicken or pork, a kilogram of rat meat goes for about $6.

In a video report, the BBC's Tom Santorelli reports on the Thai delicacy that many may find repugnant.

Professional rat-catchers start work before the sun rises, setting traps near the rat holes. It may sound gruesome, but their line of work is quick and nimble compared to the methods employed by some city-dwellers.

In Mumbai, the city's army of rat-hunters don't even mess around with traps; they go straight for the kill by smashing rats against the ground or bashing their heads in with sticks.

According to the BBC, rat meat is so popular that demand for the cooked rodent flesh is outweighing the available supply.

If this cuisine makes you queasy, we advise skipping the BBC's video footage.

What's the strangest thing you've ever eaten? Would you try rat meat?

Comments

[aphextwin07]

12:28 PM on 04/12/2012

more expensive than chicken or pork?! crazy

[mortonrchrd]

12:55 PM on 04/09/2012

Tastes like chicken...Right ?...... I hear MJ singing to Ben !.....What do you think the chances are that the USDA has a standard as to how much rat meat can be in your ground beef !

[hauruck]

12:45 AM on 02/20/2012

I've eaten rat meat. It's not bad.

[92102]

09:54 PM on 02/19/2012

Looks similar to barbequed squirrel which isn't bad. When I lived in Louisiana there was a big push to get folks to eat nutria which is basically a giant bayou rat. I never did try that though, something about those orange teeth and beedy eyes.

[cuoi]

09:09 AM on 02/18/2012

We give pleasant sounding names to some food products, such as "long pig" for human flesh. Why not give a name for these little furry critters? Such as "small cow"....

[mortonrchrd]

12:49 PM on 04/09/2012

Human flesh is a 'food product' ? Not in my book.....I don't want to be in the airliner with you when the plane goes down in the mountains !

[cuoi]

09:54 AM on 04/10/2012

Heh, heh...you have nothing to worry about from me. Unless you are young and tender...
My reference came from some book I read about an African explorer who hired people to provide food. After one trip, he pressed them on the meat they were eating and he had to press further when they first said "long pig".
Perhaps I should have given a more socially acceptable example like "mountain oysters"...

[DramaKitteh]

01:15 AM on 02/18/2012

I'd try it as long as they were farm-raised and not sewer rats....

[cuoi]

09:06 AM on 02/18/2012

Cambodian and Vietnamese rats are harvested from rice paddies where the rats eat rice. They wouldn't touch the rats the size of NYC rats in the cities,

[freedom1947]

05:06 PM on 02/19/2012

With the increasing price of beef, a good taco bell rat burrito will probably be next on the menu. Super size it?

[SimonBao]

09:10 AM on 02/18/2012

They are not farm-raised, and are probably healthier than any farm-raised rat might be.

They are paddy rats, they live in rice paddies and eat an herbivore diet of plants and grains. In flavor and texture, they are not very different than a rabbit.

[ClanMacKinnon]

11:30 PM on 02/17/2012

Slather one of those with some BBQ sauce and it probably wouldn't taste that bad.

[Blitzschnell]

09:50 PM on 02/17/2012

Check the meat in the pad thai.

[Blitzschnell]

09:49 PM on 02/17/2012

Start your own rat farm.

[sallybutt45]

11:53 PM on 02/17/2012

One of my favorite books, later turned into a film ," King Rat", the author escapes me, George Segal starred in the film, quite fascinating, It, fortunately, doesn't peak my hunger for this particular "delicacy".

[xenubarb]

07:40 PM on 02/17/2012

I would try hot rat on a stick. If I liked it, I'd add it to my diet. (I have pet rats I wouldn't eat, but I'll eat strange rat)

Weird food? I've had rattlesnake, it was very delicious.
Cat tacos in mexico.
Cougar
Moose
No Squirrel
deer, elk, bear, boar, antelope.

I'm a human Tasmanian Devil. You do NOT want to be stuck on a desert island with me!

[cuoi]

09:01 AM on 02/18/2012

Have you had long pig?

[xenubarb]

03:53 PM on 02/18/2012

Talk to me after I'm rescued from that desert island! :)

[YoYoMaster]

03:00 PM on 02/17/2012

As a non-Muslim, now I guess I totally understand why Muslims don't eat certain type of meat.

[SimonBao]

09:12 AM on 02/18/2012

Muslims eat *herbivores* of every kind, as long as they are slaughtered according to Halal rules.

[Cat Turd]

12:39 AM on 02/17/2012

I'd try it.

[cuoi]

09:02 AM on 02/18/2012

Judging from your name, it doesn't surprise me...

[loki]

10:43 PM on 02/16/2012

Rats on sticks or Babies on Pike ( for you Eddie izzard fans) People all over the world have eaten rats for centuries, its only disgusting because we are not accustom to it. But the way the Super Rich are destroying America, it might become the cheapest available source of protein people can get soon.
Personally, if you want to make America better, you need to put thousands of the Rats who work on Wall Street on pikes and leave them out for all upcoming rats to see and learn from

[conchop]

08:48 PM on 02/16/2012

MMMM! Rat sheesh kabob with Thai dipping sauce - a cold beer - health food

[USA now]

06:26 PM on 02/16/2012

It’s all in your head ! We eat snails, opossum, rattle snake, alligator, shrimp, crawdad, lobster, catfish. Bottom dwelling scavengers eating carrion. To mention only a very few of the strange things. All of the above are better for you than any processed foods, which contain only God knows what chemicals. I’m surprised that we don’t glow in the dark !!! If you have done any traveling in 3rd world countries, you know you have eaten stranger things than rat.