Chinese people have no prejudges against any source of proteins. Insects, snakes or dogs have their place in Chinese cuisine. Majority of Westerners put that fact among other ‘legends’ about the Far East and don’t give it much thought. Most people don’t wonder how a dog would taste. They usually don’t even want to wonder about that. You can count yourself as one of those people. The thing that distinguishes you from majority is that, you were invited by a Chinese family for a New Year's dinner …
If you ask average Westerner: “What do you know about China?” Most of them, among other answers, would mention: “people there eat dogs”. Well, that is basically true. It isn’t that common though. It’s not a dish you can order in any restaurant. It’s something reserved for special celebrations (not to mention it’s quite expensive). Honestly speaking, many Chinese people (especially young generation raised in cities) have the same attitude towards eating dogs, as Westerners do (dog is a friend not a meal). Taking all those facts into consideration you’ve never imagined finding yourself in a situation when you would be served a dog dish. Well, as they say ‘life is full of surprises’. You haven’t thought that if a Chinese family invites you to the village to spend with them the New Year’s Day (probably the most important holiday in China) than the dinner might be by any means ‘special’.
So here you are, sitting by the table. Someone puts hot pot (mandatory dish during each family dinner) on the table. Looks harmless, like any other hot pot you’ve eaten so far. You take closer look. Looks like beef. You take a bite… Tastes like pork. It’s perplexing. You turn to your friend and ask “what kind of meat is it?”. “It’s a dog”. You think that you must misheard and ask once again. Unfortunately you heard exactly what you thought you’ve heard. What’s even scarier, you’re absolutely convinced that your friend wasn’t joking. You’ve just eaten a DOG stew. Even though you’ve already spent considerable amount of time in China that might actually be the first time when you’ve felt “wow! That really is a different culture..”
To sum up and answer disturbing question regarding dog’s taste, you can say at the end: it tastes like pork. Really. There’s absolutely no difference (at least not the one you’ll be able to tell). Putting all the emotional issues regarding this dish aside, it’s safe to say that in the matter regarding taste, it’s really nothing special. Eat pork. Tastes the same and doesn’t cause moral hangover.
So here you are, sitting by the table. Someone puts hot pot (mandatory dish during each family dinner) on the table. Looks harmless, like any other hot pot you’ve eaten so far. You take closer look. Looks like beef. You take a bite… Tastes like pork. It’s perplexing. You turn to your friend and ask “what kind of meat is it?”. “It’s a dog”. You think that you must misheard and ask once again. Unfortunately you heard exactly what you thought you’ve heard. What’s even scarier, you’re absolutely convinced that your friend wasn’t joking. You’ve just eaten a DOG stew. Even though you’ve already spent considerable amount of time in China that might actually be the first time when you’ve felt “wow! That really is a different culture..”
To sum up and answer disturbing question regarding dog’s taste, you can say at the end: it tastes like pork. Really. There’s absolutely no difference (at least not the one you’ll be able to tell). Putting all the emotional issues regarding this dish aside, it’s safe to say that in the matter regarding taste, it’s really nothing special. Eat pork. Tastes the same and doesn’t cause moral hangover.
RSS Feed
