Dog Meat

I've actually eaten dog a few times before -- once in California, once in southern China, and in South Korea, but never as the focus of a meal. So I rounded up a few brave men for a trip out to "Koreatown" in Shanghai, where there are several restaurants specializing in dog meat. I asked a few ladies to join us, but they all had excuses ... what's up with that? Is dog meat macho?



We ordered 5 courses of dog meat -- hot pot (raw dog meat you put into a boiling pot to cook briefly), dog soup, stir-fried dog, dog chops, and grilled BBQ dog. I enjoyed the grilled dog best. Good tender prime cuts of doggy deliciousness!

Dog soup:



Dog hot pot (spicy-hot dog):


Grilled dog meat:


The other 3 gentlemen who joined me for the dog dinner all agreed the meat was delicious. It was their first time. You're probably curious, so yeah, we're all from countries other than China -- Italy, Australia, Malaysia, and USA. Each of us agreed we'd eat dog meat again.

We asked for details on the dogs we were eating, but all we could get was "they're big dogs." Judging from the amount of meat in the portions, one would assume they're big dogs. No idea what breed. Maybe a mutt? Anyone know which breed tastes best? Does it seem like I'm a lazy researcher? If you've ever had first-hand experience with waitstaff in Shanghai, you can't blame me...

In fact ... Our slightly neurotic waitress spilled an entire bowl of boiling hot dog soup into Mr. M's lap. Poor fellow smelled like dog all night after that, so probably didn't find a date, even at everyone's favorite meat market "Windows" bar. Lots of dogs there, but everyone scores.



Here's a list of recipes for dog meat. What do they mean by "digested dogmeat" in "Dogmeat cooky" ?? And wow, they have "Dogmeat cosmetics"...

Now, we're aware that some of our readers are offended by the culinary consumption of dogs. Is there a reason why you are offended, but not when someone eats a chicken or a cow? Is it because of the culture you come from? Some cultures forbid eating pigs, others cows. Pigs are intelligent animals at the top of the food chain, and can make good pets. And chickens are cute. So, what's your beef with eating dog?

Mr. J, a white boy, enjoying fresh cooked dog:


Yes, some Europeans eat dog. French. Swiss.

During the Olympics and World Cup Soccer in South Korea, there were protests (by foreigners mostly), and to save face, the government asked Koreans to avoid eating dog meat during the events. However, "Many people have argued that international organizations such as FIFA and PETA have no right to interfere with an ancient Korean custom, maintaining that the only difference between slaughtering a dog for food and slaughtering a cow or a pig or other animal is the culture in which it is done." [Wikipedia]

Here is an organization devoted to stopping dog meat consumption: Anti-Dog Meat Movement.

Most of the agruments against eating dog meat seem to focus on the poor, inhumane treatment of the dogs before they die, or how they are killed. I agree. That totally sucks. But how is that any different from how all the other animals-for-consumption are treated? And protesting dog meat consumption is a different issue than the bad treatment of dogs. I say protest the inhumane treatment of animals, all animals. Otherwise, let them eat dog.

The dog restaurant we ate at is at 290 Ziteng Lu, near Wuzhong Lu, Shanghai.

* Addition, July 2007 -- Looks like this post finally caused the controversy I expected it to -- and I mean expectated, not necessary "desired" -- although I think part of this whole project is to spark a dialog. Also, as I expected, I haven't seen what I'd consider a reasonable, factual, logical argument against eating dog. Some of the responses are comic -- I have an ugly evil face? Dogs are angels? Because it's illegal? -- keep'm coming folks! I am not necessarily pro-dog-eating, I just don't see any reason NOT to. And I certainly don't see any reason to force someone else not to.

Now here's additional questions to consider -- what do dogs eat? What do you dog lovers feed your pets? What happens to those animals, and how do they live and get slaughtered? Also, do you consider it cruel to feed dogs a vegan diet?

We've got a newer post about Dog Meat here.

North Korean Ox Knee

"Yo, I had North Korean food last week," said my part-Korean-American, all-New Yorkian friend Michael. "Whoa really? There's a North Korean restaurant here? I wanna check it out," I replied.

So last night we met at the Hongqiao Parksons in Shanghai, and went up to the fifth floor. We were greeted by a pack of supposedly North Korean women wearing traditional dresses and eager smiles. The other restaurants in the Parksons mall are a bit more upscale, so the bone-white fluorescent lights and the too-loud karaoke music were the first reassuring clues that this place was North Korean.



I've been wanting to visit North Korea for years, but American passport holders are not allowed to enter. If you're interested, check with the fine folks at Koryo Tours; they were able to answer all my tough questions. North Korea's in the news a lot lately, so the photos and stories on Koryo's website are a refreshing alternative to all the grim tales and doomsday predictions.

So let's take a look at the menu. Many of the dishes were called "Pyongyang" something or other, like "Pyongyang kimchi", etc. Of course, the proud capital. We searched for the weirdest meat on the menu, and finally settled on the "Steamed Ox Knee" (the only thing spelled correctly on the menu). There were actually a lot of weird things on the menu but with all the mispellings, I didn't want to be disappointed with something not really weird, like just some normal fish with a weird sounding name.

Like most Korean meals, you order one dish, and it comes with a gazillion side dishes and kimchees. So we ordered the ox knee, and something called "garbogone" (a soup with mystery meat and instant noodles). Most of the spelling on the menu was wrong, so I don't know the true name of this dish. It had these tube-like meat-things that I figured to be some kind of intestine, but Michael and the waitress agreed it was some squiggly sea creature. "One that goes like this, yo," said Michael, wiggling his arms and making silly face. "Right. That one," I said as I maneuvered the squiggly tube-like sea-meat-thing into my mouth with the metal chopsticks. Pretty good. Like a more delicate, less-rubbery calamari.

Then came the Ox Knee, steamed in a bamboo basket, table-side. It looked like raw chicken, even after a 20-minute steam job. Pure, gelatinous cartilage. Now that's a knee.



The color, and even the flavour, reminded me of raw hamachi (sushi), but the texture was unique. It had a pleasant chewiness -- a soft, sticky gelatin texture -- and subtle flavors that balanced well with the other, more spicy dishes.

So, the ox knee was good, but the rest of the food ... well, everything was just not that good. More specifically, the kimchi and other small dishes were unbalanced, erring on the side of bland or acidic. With only one North Korean meal under my belt, I'm not sure if this is the fault of the restaurant or the cuisine, but I'd guess the former.