China Cat Lovers Rescue Kittens Meant for Dinner

Oh here's a fun story... over the weekend in Jiaxing, Zhejiang Province (a few hours south of Shanghai), a bunch of cat lovers rescued 800 kittens that were going to be sent down to Guangdong (where they eat all that weird stuff). Supposedly these cats were meant to be eaten too.

Shanghai Animal Protection Association President Zhang Yi appealed to society to cultivate better dining habits. [source]

These cat lovers are speciesists!

Now, my spell check is telling me speciesist and speciesism is not a word. (it's recommending "spacesuit" hah). But the word is in the dictionary:

discrimination in favor of one species, usually the human species, over another, esp. in the exploitation or mistreatment of animals by humans.

Maybe you didn't know, there's a whole debate about this stuff. This guy thinks animal rights activists are misguided - The Speciesist's Corner. This guy asks, Is Christianity Irredeemably Speciesist?.

Part of the whole issue is concerned with humans thinking they are better than animals. But another part of the debate asks why one animal is regarded higher than another.

All that aside, the question begs to be answered -- why are these guys saving cats? What about the pigs, the chickens, the cows, the ducks. Ducks are cute too.

If all that's too heavy for you, watch this woman train her cat to eat with a fork. Hey is that reverse speciesism?

China Bans Dog Meat During Olympics

[Photo from TrekEarth]

During the 1988 Olympics in Seoul, Korea, the government banned some restaurants from serving dog meat and encouraged Koreans to not eat dog when around foreign visitors. There was a lot of hoopla surrounding this, with anti-dog meat organizations rallying and "Korean culture" supporters defending their right to eat dog meat. It's important to note that there were Korean natives and foreigners on both sides of the argument, and I'm sure there always will be.

Looks like China has done the same for the Beijing 2008 Olympic summer games. "Restaurant workers are advised to 'patiently' suggest other options to diners who order dog." [source]

That goes along with a list of all sorts of things they've covered up from foreign eyes for the Olympics.

We've eaten dog meat in many places around China, and other countries, and we've even seen in on the menu at some luxury hotels and airport lounges. The shocking, gruesome pictures of dog meat you might find on the internet are often taken in rural villages, where the butchering and cooking of animals is usually out in the open, for public viewing. It's the same for most slaughtered animals there. You can hand-pick your fish or chicken or goat, and have it slaughtered, butchered, bled, and cooked right before your eyes. How is this different from what happens every day in the modern, urban, Western world? We do our slaughter behind closed doors. But we still do it, and you eat it and you pay for it to be done again (vegetarians excluded, of course).

More about eating dog meat.

And more about anti-weird meat propaganda.

Cicadas in Jinan

Jinan city, Shandong Province, China


Fried Cicadas

I love the sound of cicadas. I remember my first trip to Asia many years ago, mid-summer in Kyoto, Japan. I was a typical first-timer, taking pics of everything in sight. But one day I was hiking in a rural mountain area, and the sound of cicadas in the trees was so mesmerizing, I shut my camera and bought a cheap tape recorder. For the rest of the trip I recorded sounds instead of snap-shots. The sound of cicadas didn't leave my mind for months after that trip. Years later, I still remember the sound, and I look forward to it every summer I'm in Asia.



The cicadas make a different sound rhythm in China, at least in Shanghai, where I spend most of my time lately. But I still like it. It's more of a drone here, compared to the rising-falling hum-buzz of the Kyoto cicadas. Turns out there are many different varieties of cicadas, and each has their own sound.

Some cicada fans have made a website about to their favorite bugs -- Cicada Mania: "Dedicated to cicadas, the most amazing insects in the world."

I'd heard a few times that people sometimes eat these insects, but I hadn't ever seen them on the menu until my recent trip to the cold harsh north.

I had a DJ gig in a nightclub in a second-tier Chinese city called Jinan. Jinan is in Shandong province, and is, I guess, about 5 hours south of Beijing by train. At a restaurant here in Jinan, I checked out the fish tanks and vegetable crates that serve as a menu. A lot of the hotel restaurants and banquet places in China have these areas -- crates and tanks of live animals (mostly fish and seafood, but sometimes more -- more on this in another article), and sample plates of prepared dishes (sometimes plastic versions like you see everywhere in Japan). Anyway, at this Jinan restaurant, there were two items that were easily identifiable as "weird." Scorpions and cicadas. Live ones. The scorpions were really small ones, dull brown, almost colorless critters. I'd already had big black ones, and I wasn't really doing the ordering so I politely ignored them. My host did catch me looking at the cicadas crawling around in a bucket, however, and challenged me to try it. Little did he know, I'm the Weird Meat guy!



So minutes later, we had a huge plate of fried bugs. I'd say about a hundred of these little bite-size insects were deep-fried crispy. Everyone liked them. Even my friend Boya from Texas, usually not as adventurous a diner, enjoyed them.

At one point during our stay in Jinan, I suggested trying some street food. Mr. Boya wasn't into that. So we popped into the safe, global-standard KFC for some chicken nuggets -- and had to spit the first one out as it was raw in the center. Hahah, the irony. Maybe the safer stuff is on the dirty streets.

Let me be frank. Jinan is a boring town. There's not much to do there. I sulked around the new shopping mall district, disgusted with the crass new buildings and pointless, stupid shops. I did find a maze of back alleys behind these tacky new malls, that were bustling with street food. Had a nice bowl of soup with fresh hand-pulled noodles underneath an overpass. Also a really good BBQ skewer of quail eggs.

As we were running to catch our plane at the modern Jinan airport, we noticed an airport lobby restaurant had "dog meat and flesh" on the menu, under the "chicken meat and flesh" and "beef meat and flesh".

Shanghai Restaurants: Top 10 Favorites

(or ... 10 Restaurants in Shanghai That Don't Suck)

WeirdMeat received a lot of feedback about our public disapproval of Shanghai cuisine. Some good, some bad, but no one (as of this writing) has offered any solution or suggestion that there is something good about Shanghai cuisine. Maybe we're right? Seems like they even admit it. We've challenged many a Shanghai friend to find us a decent Shanghainese meal, but they always suggest Sichuan or Cantonese or Xinjiang food. (I'll write about Xinjiang food soon, you'll be delighted to hear about the texture of raw sheep heart and the vertical penis tasting!)

[enter generic pic of shanghai skyline]

One popular Shanghai dish, for example, is ... pork cuts, deep-fried with a crunchy corn meal coating. Over that, they pour a sickly sweet mayonnaise, and then -- the horror -- they sprinkle those little rainbow-sprinkles that kids like to put on cheap ice cream sundaes.

Another example -- for breakfast -- they have these street food vendors that make crepes. The crepes are very greasy -- squeeze them and yellow oil pours out like it's a sponge. But it's the combination of what goes inside that's revolting -- sugary-sweet thick brown gravy, bits of fried pork, green onions, pickled vegetables, eggs, and then more sugar spooned on top. Beverage of choice? How about some chocolate milk? Mmmm. I guess you might want something to get the bowels moving in the morning, but isn't this a bit extreme?

But ... we've been living in Shanghai for several years now, so we've found a way to survive the dining scene here, (partly by making several trips a year to other cities to make sure we're not just jaded).

WeirdMeat was previously a restaurant critic -- here and in the States -- for (don't say it) more reputable publications, and we've done a bit of globetrotting, so we've had a lot of experience eating all sorts of cuisines. Mom's an eclectic cook too, we grew up eating all sorts of yummy homemade food, from falafel to fajitas to fufu to fun chow. We know good food, no matter where it's from.

So here's a list our current favorite 10 restaurants in Shanghai. Shanghai's a big place, so this isn't a list of what I feel are the "best," because I haven't tried enough to make that judgment. But these places are good. (Not in order, just a list). And we'll update this when it's necessary...

1. Charmant (Taiwanese Chinese) - Also see Bellagio, 3 locations, which appears to be the inspiration for Charmant. They're all pretty good. Taiwanese takes on various Chinese cuisines, the desserts are stand-outs. Excellent service. Affordable but nice enough for just about any occasion short of a honeymoon. Corner of Huaihai and Fuxing xi lu.

2. Hengshan Cafe (Cantonese) - Despite the frequent service break-downs, the food here is some of the best homestyle Cantonese food we've had anywhere. The daily soups are darn cheap but the best in town -- hearty and comforting. Some things are a miss on this menu, including the BBQ meats that are showcased, but there's enough good stuff on the menu here to warrant frequent visits. 308 Hengshan lu, plus new locations.

3. Lisboa Macau Restaurant (Macau) - Macau-style food, a brilliant blend of Cantonese and Portuguese. So much good stuff on this menu, from the won-ton soup to the African chicken. The ice milk coffee is so delicious but will keep you awake for a day or two. Inside the Times Square building basement on Huaihai Lu. There are other locations, but this one seems to be the best of them. Too bad some of the best items on the menu have been taken off because of the worldwide cod fish shortage.

4. Casanova/Velvet Lounge (Pizza/Italian) - Sorry, Jimix got the axe, after 4 recent disappointing visits. We think the best pizza in Shanghai is at Casanova above the Velvet Lounge. They got other good Italian dishes here too, like pastas and salads, and they get extra points for pouring a decent house red in a full size glass. Julu lu @ Changshu lu. * Also check out Da Marco, who's pizza rivals this one.

5. Vedas (north Indian) - The best Indian food we've had in China, and it's even better than almost all the North Indian restaurants we went to in America. Jianguo xi lu near Wulumuqi lu.

6. Xiao Nan Guo (Shanghainese food in a bath house) - Any first-time visitor to China should try to fit in a few hours at one of the grand bath houses like Xiao Nan Guo. For under $10 USD, you get to use the saunas and hot tubs, grooming facilities, and for a little extra you can get a variety of massages, or book a private room and stay overnight. One of the foot massage rooms even has a stage variety show that can be amusing -- acrobat shows followed by burlesque shows, despite the fact that this is a family-friendly place -- (watching the family kids copying the moves the sexy Russian dancers do will make most foreigners blush). The unexpected thing is that the restaurant at Xiao Nan Guo is some of the best food you can get in Shanghai. This is really the only Shanghainese restaurant we actually get excited about. The wait service still sucks, but after a couple hours of relaxing in the sauna, you're too blissed out to care. Several locations, but we frequent the one at 3337 Hongmei Lu (by Yan'An Xi Lu) in Hongqiao/Gubei. (Shanghai Uncle got the ax, they've gone downhill sorry.)

7. Saleya (French bistro) - We (used to) love this place! It's a quiet little colorful bistro, so classic, and it's affordable enough for a weekly visit. The duck confit and creme brulee are tops in the town. Changle lu near Xiangyang lu. (* 2008 update -- eh, sorry guys, another good restaurant that's going downhill, last few visits were really disappointing.)

8. Yuxin (Sichuan Chinese) - After trying all the Sichuan places, this new-comer kicks it! The tea-smoked duck is similar to but far superior to Peking Duck, imho. And the water-cooked fish is the best. Inside the STV tower on Weihai lu.

9. Rendezvous (Singapore/Penang Malaysian) - Closed. Too bad.

9. Southern Barbarian (Yunnan Chinese) - Yes! Finally. The other Yunnan restaurants in Shanghai didn't do it for us (with the exception of a few fine dishes at Lost Heaven). Southern Barbarian opened their new location on Maoming, north of Ruijin lu. Affordable, friendly, yummy! Also has best beer selection for any restaurant in Shanghai.

10. House of Canton (Dim Sum). 4th floor of Isetan shopping mall on Nanjing Xi Lu. Despite the generic, old-school sounding name, this place is modern and minimally gorgeous, and very civilized. The dim sum here is our current favorite in town. While the menu is short, everything is top notch and reasonably priced, especially considering the atmosphere, service, and quality.

... still looking. Got any recommendations? Send a comment!

P.S. Found an interesting article about the history of Shanghai cuisine, but I'm unconvinced there's a renaissance of new, good food going on here ... yet. Read the article.

If you know of any lists of Best Shanghai Restaurants, or just want to share your favorites, post in the comments below...

Wild Meat Less Popular in China?

City Weekend magazine May issue carried a story called "Beef, it's what's for dinner" about a recent study by WildAid and China Wildlife Conservation Association. The study claims that wild animals are becoming less popular with Chinese consumers. I'm a bit suspicious of the numbers -- I've heard other reports on the contrary, that with a newly affluent class in China, more diners can afford to eat expensive, exotic dishes. Shark's fin soup, for example, has been under attack by animal rights activists because the demand has been increasing recently.

I'll quote from the article here:

With the media hyped fear of SARS and the bird flu spreading like wildfire over the globe, many Chinese have stopped their wild ways and are sticking to beef, pork and chicken.

"It just doesn't seem worth the risk of getting a deadly disease to eat some weird animal," said Cindy Li in Beijing.

Now I'd really like to see some stats here. Have more people died from eating weird meat? What about mad cows? Or trichinosis from pig meat? And, considering bird flu is currently the most famous food-borne disease out there, does this Cindy Li person think chickens are weird animals?

Also, check out this recent report on wild meats -- new on the menu in Shanghai, and one (rather wild himself) chef's argument that wild meat is better for ecology.

Don't Serve Weird Meat To Foreign Friends

Browsing through this week's Chinese news, I found a few articles about the new social education program the Shanghai government is starting up in preparation for the World Expo 2010. They're going to offer public lessons on manners and etiquette -- how not to hack spit all over the place, how not to smoke on public elevators (we hope!), how to yield for pedestrians (yeah right), and how to greet foreigners visiting Shanghai. The last one caught our attention. We're used to being called "lao wai" daily, as we walk down the street. "Hallo !! Lao wai !!" Lao wai means "old foreigner," and even though my friends here insist it's a term of endearment, hearing it 50 times a day "lao wai !! heheh .. Hallo !!" can become a bit nerve-racking. So the government is going to discourage this behavior, in hopes that Shanghai will appear to be a more mature, cultured, cosmopolitan city, as it prepares to host the World Expo. Yeah, I know, World Expo ... they still have those?


Here is "Hai Bao" the official mascot for Shanghai's World Expo 2010 -- what do you think, does he look like a ... condom? toothpaste? blue Gumby?

So how is this related to Weird Meat? Well, it seems that one of the items they're going to address is how Chinese hosts should not serve foreign guests "offal and fish with bones." [SH-8days magazine, March 2006] Now I'm all for encouraging the 20 million civilians here to wait in line at the subway ticket booth, but some things are sacred and shouldn't be changed. Public pajama wearing doesn't bother me, and should be left alone -- it's charming, and it's a person's own business what they want to wear. But messing with a culture's foodways like this is just wrong. If a foreigner doesn't like offal and fish on the bone, that's the foreigner's problem. I'm a foreigner, and I want to appreciate the culture's foodways as they are, not a dumbed-down tourist version.

A better effort could be to discourage consumption of shark's fin soup, or the poaching of endangered species. A far more important PR exercise! But I say, eat the offal. Don't waste this perfectly good meat. Stop the anti-weird propaganda!

If they'd only learn how to cook it...

I Have Big Eggs

(Double duck eggs from Yangzhou, China)

The other day my friend Coco came through with an interesting weird meat oddity from her hometown Yangzhou. There's a town near Yangzhou called Gaoyou and a lake near there called Gaoyou Lake. And at this lake there are weird ducks.

Well, they're not really weird, they're just free-range and healthy. That's cool. I wish all ducks were like this.

They're called "Gaoyou maya," which means "sparrow-duck" because their feathers are reminiscent of sparrow bird feathers. Quite attractive, I believe.

It's their eggs that are weird. They're big like goose eggs. (Here's a photo of 2 of these big duck eggs, next to a brown chicken egg)...



The yolks are a bright orange-red color, and an unusually high proportion of them are double-yolked. The double-yolked eggs are prized so they've set up an industry that finds these double-eggs with x-ray equipment. That way the lucky consumer is guaranteed a double-yolk upon demand.

Why are they double-yolked? The assumption is because of their exercise routine and their diet. These athletic ducks dive deep for the abundant and clean fresh-water shellfish found in the region.



We cracked open 3 of these large eggs, and each of them had two yolks. Would-be future twins? Two-headed ducks? We cooked the first egg (eh, should this be plural?) sunny-side up. It tasted like a chicken egg but more dense and flavorful. Good with salt, pepper and chili sauce. Then we scrambled the next one (eh, two?) with a cucumber. And the third double-egg was, well, a little too weird. The yolks were kind of hard and the egg white part was very watery. So we sent that one to duck heaven without eating it.

Thanks to Coco for sourcing this double duck egg. I've been encouraging her to list "Weird Meat Research Assistant" on her resume. Good idea, right?

Recent find: Four yolks in Guangdong egg

Vertical Pork Bone

A few years ago, the Wall Street Journal published a series of articles (now a book) highlighting what they found to be the best restaurants in major Asian cities. I held on to them and whenever I head off to another Asian city, I refer to them. When I first moved to Shanghai, I checked out all the restaurants on the list. One of them was Sichuan Garden, behind the Grand Gateway mall in Xujiahui. It wasn't bad a few years ago, but they've gone downhill so much that I was entirely disappointed with my last visit. The "dan dan mian" noodles were like Chef Boy-R-Dee's version of Sichuan cuisine. The tea tasted like tap water. The water-cooked fish slices tasted like mud and nothing else. There are far better Sichuan restaurants -- even in culinary challenged Shanghai -- so I suggest you avoid this one.

But I had to return for one reason -- to check out the "vertical pork bone" that I knew this place was famous for but not tried yet. Here's a pic:



Yes, it's a large pig bone, served vertical, with a plastic bendy straw in the center, so you can suck out the marrow. I suppose there's nothing weird about a pork bone, to most of us, but to serve it like this, with the bendy straw, would turn some weak stomachs out there. It's the presentation, not the content, that makes it weird.



It was the best item we had. The marrow was just soupy sauce -- reminiscent of a sweet pizza sauce, but with a subtle complexity you get from the taste of blood. The meat on the side was pleasantly sweet (they give you a plastic glove to hold it with).



Even more entertaining, however, is the chinglish on the menu. This place has some real doozies like, "Cold gynurabicolor DC" and "Daily desetrl nulr" and "Sir-friend pleurotus nebrodensis" -- these look like scientific names, and then there's the more poetic ones like "Spring dances in courtyard" and "Great bumper"



... But the winner has to be the "rabbit heads with duck's lipps". I'll get that next time, whatever it really is. Ducks don't have lips, and even though I've seen some crazy dishes in my life, I just can't fathom of plate full of rodent heads. Can you? Tune in next time...