Raw Sheep's Heart and Horse Meat

We were approached by a globe-trotting freelance videographer working with Current TV (Al Gore's new TV network in the USA) who wanted to film and interview the Weird Meat Experience.

We took the guy out for the live drunken shrimp at Shanghai Ren Jia -- only to find out they'd taken it off the menu (at this particular location -- it's still at the others). So we promised the following night we'd get some real juicy bits at the Uygar restaurant on Shanxi Nan Lu (Shanxi South Road) at Yanan Lu. Well, our luck was just plain out this week, and we turned up looking foolish and without footage. All the cool stuff was off the menu that night. No penis. No lamb's head. No camel hoof. Nothing fun, exciting, adventureous or disgusting. At least not worth filming.



Raw Sheep's Heart with bell peppers

They did, however, have appetizers of "raw sheep's heart" and "raw horse meat". Now, these do sound fun and adventurous, but they turned out to be "cured," not necessarily "raw". So the horse meat was like Italian ham, and the raw sheep's heart was like slices of liver pate. Not exciting on camera. Both were quite delicious, and we ordered seconds of each. The horse meat tasted quite familiar, and if someone told me it was a darker, richer Canadian bacon ham, I'd believe them. Could be good on a pizza or sandwich. Incidently, I've had horse meat before, in Japan, and in south Italy, and it's a popular dish in the south of France... (check out this guy's rant about horse meat.)

The Uigars live primarily in western China, mostly Xinjiang province. They're Muslim -- no pork on the menu -- and their most well-known menu items are the flat round fresh baked breads (resemble thick pizza crusts) and skewered lamb meat kebabs (yang rou chan). You can find Xinjiang food in most cities around China. In fact, it's trendy now for young adults and college students to have Xinjiang food, and you'll always see portable lamb skewer guys standing outside popular nightclubs -- as drunks like to have a hangover-cure munchie before heading home.



Horse meat

These street vendors do an amazing trick -- they're not legal, so when the cops are coming, they grab their BBQ tray, fold it up, and make a run for it. It's all so fast and efficient, like a magic trick. Often they just run around the block real quick and set up again like nothing happened, and your kebab is still cooking and almost ready to eat. Should be an olympic sport!



Anyway, at this Uigar restaurant, they do a nightly song and dance routine on a stage, and try to embarrass customers by turning them into unwilling volunteers. Only once have I allowed myself to be embarrassed like this -- it was Halloween and I was dressed as a Chinese army general, feeling festive with several bottles of tasty Xinjiang Black Beer in my belly.

So the sheep's heart and horse ham were quite innocuous -- pleasent and familiar to the palate and sight of any Westerner, as long as they don't know what it is. We applaud anyone who doesn't waste good meat, whether it's weird or not. But these items tasted really good and familiar, and fulfilled our need for protein.

* I've used several spellings Uighur, Uygar and Uigar, because, well, they're both used often, regardless of what's currently proper.

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.