China - OH MY GOD! I think I ate cat meat kabob/satay in Shanghai, China! (disguised as lamb)

OH MY GOD! I think I ate cat meat kabob/satay in Shanghai, China! (disguised as lamb)

I was in Shanghai about two months ago. A few business associates took me on a walking tour around the city. We stopped by a street vendor selling kabob-like meats on sticks. They were sort of like the satay that Singapore Airlines serve. I had several of them. Beef and lamb, as I was told. :mad: :mad: :mad:

Today I saw the news on MSNBC about vendors in China using stray cat meat disguised as lamb...

http://msnbc.msn.com/id/10737308/

One of the vendors look very similar to the one I ate from.
Oh my god, oh my god....

Should I go see my doctor on Monday and get myself examined? If so, what kind of diseases could I have gotten? The news mentioned something about parasites in cats... I have not felt any thing weird with my body in the last couple of month... but still... do I have reason to worry? :(

Again... OH MY GOD!!! I am about to barf out my dinner... Yes, I'm a cat lover and a cat owner... :( :( :(

If it's been two months I wouldn't worry about it too much... go get yourself checked out if you like but I would have thought whatever was going to happen would have happened by now anyway.

If you think the cat's no good, I wouldn't recommend the rat (sorry, couldn't resist).

I know it's off topic, however somewhat related, but did you know there is restraunt that specializes in rat dishes located in Guanzhou :D makes for good eating. or so I'm told :)

Did it taste like lamb? :D

Chalk it up to experience and move on ;)

From Stephen Sondheim's musical, Sweeny Todd:

"Lately I've noticed something weird,
All the neighbors' cats have disappeared.
What a coarse enterprise,
Popping pussies into pie!"

I was in Shanghai about two months ago. A few business associates took me on a walking tour around the city. We stopped by a street vendor selling kabob-like meats on sticks. They were sort of like the satay that Singapore Airlines serve. I had several of them. Beef and lamb, as I was told.

Rule 1 when travelling overseas, follow the locals. Generally if whatever's being cooked is being eaten by the locals, it can't be too bad. I had Rat when I was in KUL a few years back, and I'm not dead... yet

Today I saw the news on MSNBC about vendors in China using stray cat meat disguised as lamb...

Not as uncommon as you think. Meat substitution is fairly common throughout most third world localities. While in the Phillipines I once queried a vendor as to what meat I was eating to be told "Not sure, whatever we caught yesterday".

One of the vendors look very similar to the one I ate from.
Oh my god, oh my god

I've never seen two Chinese people that look similar. That'd gotta be him !

/sarcasm

Should I go see my doctor on Monday and get myself examined? I wouldn't bother, personally, just chalk it up as an experience.

Should I sound the alarm that I might have eaten dog disguised as pork in Vietnam? :eek:

I'll just be willfully (and blissfully) ignorant....


If you think the cat's no good, I wouldn't recommend the rat (sorry, couldn't resist).

Is it bad that I've had stewed rat, and recently? (It ain't bad... and it was WATER rat... not that it makes it better) :D

OH MY GOD! I think I ate cat meat kabob/satay in Shanghai, China! (disguised as lamb)

I was in Shanghai about two months ago. A few business associates took me on a walking tour around the city. We stopped by a street vendor selling kabob-like meats on sticks. They were sort of like the satay that Singapore Airlines serve. I had several of them. Beef and lamb, as I was told. :mad: :mad: :mad:

Today I saw the news on MSNBC about vendors in China using stray cat meat disguised as lamb...

http://msnbc.msn.com/id/10737308/

One of the vendors look very similar to the one I ate from.
I don't mean the person looks familiar... it's the vending
stand that he pushes around...


Should I go see my doctor on Monday and get myself examined? If so, what kind of diseases could I have gotten? The news mentioned something about parasites in cats... I have not felt any thing weird with my body in the last couple of month... but still... do I have reason to worry? :(

Again... OH MY GOD!!! I am about to barf out my dinner... Yes, I'm a cat lover and a cat owner... :( :( :(

Rule 1 when travelling overseas, follow the locals. Generally if whatever's being cooked is being eaten by the locals, it can't be too bad.
Keep in mind that the locals may have different tolerances or immunities with regards to bacteria or other microbes.

http://www2.ncid.cdc.gov/travel/yb/utils/ybGet.asp?section=dis&obj=travelers_diarrhea.htm&cssNav=browseoyb

Cat meat is fine, so is dog. Relax and get a hold of yourself.

Now that you're prepped, try monkey brain. I've had it Hannibal Lechter style, where the cranium has been carved, and you just pop off the cap. Good eats! Yum! :p

M8

OH MY GOD! I think I ate cat meat kabob/satay in Shanghai, China! (disguised as lamb)

The black ones taste best :p

Have you been craving Whisker Lickins lately?

I had Rat when I was in KUL a few years back, and I'm not dead... yet

:eek: :eek: :eek:

As a local this is the first time I have heard about RATs being eaten here(other than by cats ;) )

Care to share where I could find grilled rats in KUL :)

From Stephen Sondheim's musical, Sweeny Todd:

"Lately I've noticed something weird,
All the neighbors' cats have disappeared.
What a coarse enterprise,
Popping pussies into pie!"
Well, at least you didn't have a little priest, although knowing China's feelings toward organized religion, it wouldn't terribly surprise me....

Reminds me of a story recently. Tiger meat is apparently a delicacy out there. A restaurant was cutting corners by selling donkey meat soaked in tiger urine. Doesnt sound too tasty to me....

I'll sympathize with the OP. I'm of the "I'll eat pretty much anything I'm served and smile while doing it" school, but as a cat lover and owner, the thought of eating Felix makes me gag. Rule #1 - never ask what you're eating. Rule #2 - don't think about it.

I'm not a medical doctor, but I think cooking will kill most parasites. Don't worry too much -- and follow Rule #2.

I am of the don't ask, don't tell school of thought. If overseas and my host suggest I try something then its ok for me.

so is dog.
Plenty of them in Korea!:p

There's a saying in China. It's particularly for Guangzhou. "We eat everything with four legs except tables and chairs." Personally, I don't see how cat could be made into kebabs, but never know these days. I've heard of it prepared as a stew.

That's horrible. Esp after SARS.

OH MY GOD! I think I ate cat meat kabob/satay in Shanghai, China! (disguised as lamb)

Did it taste like chicken?? :D They said the cuy I ordered in Cusco would....but they lied... :rolleyes:


Should I go see my doctor on Monday and get myself examined? If so, what kind of diseases could I have gotten? The news mentioned something about parasites in cats... I have not felt any thing weird with my body in the last couple of month... but still... do I have reason to worry? :(

Only if you have the sensation of creepy crawlies on the inside.

Hehe, well, if you havn't had any symptoms already you should be fine. There are many other people that have eaten cat, and noting happens to them.

As a matter of fact, one of my friends dad once told me that the best way to prepare a cat was to drown it, rather than shoot or stab it, becuse when you drown a cat, the muscles stay relaxed, and therefore more tender. :rolleyes:

Did it taste like lamb?

More importantly, was it good?

I had several of them.

I guess so.

I love cats too, and am disgusted with the idea of eating our pets, but if served a dish that I loved, it would only be in retrospect, such as how you learned, that it would gross me out. Anyone read "In Pharoah's Army"? At the end of his tour in Vietnam, his final meal, unbeknownest to him, is a dog he had previously rescued from being eaten. When told, he is at first sad, but then decides to finish his meal/dog, which he said was very good. Shoot, several threads down is someone asking about where to find fried brains. People eat almost anything in the name of cuisine.

As a matter of fact, one of my friends dad once told me that the best way to prepare a cat was to drown it, rather than shoot or stab it, becuse when you drown a cat, the muscles stay relaxed, and therefore more tender. :rolleyes:

How is that possible? Cats would go beserk if you put them in water. My cat would rather die than be given a bath. :)

Back to the original subject... I am also someone who eats "almost" everything... but the thought of having eaten a cat sickens me... As I type this, my cat is staring at me in a funny way. :(

I guess it wouldn't hurt to get myself checked out... after that, I'll just forget this ever happened...

Well, at least you didn't have a little priest, although knowing China's feelings toward organized religion, it wouldn't terribly surprise me....

Ah, but you have to try the Shepherds pie peppered with actual shepherd! Um, good!

I don't like the idea of eating cat either but i'm not freaking out about it.

I also had Kebabs in Shanghai a year ago and Guangzhou/Shenzhen a year before that.

Lamb? maybe.. Cat? Maybe.. i'm sitting here, not freaking out about it though. I don't feel any worse than I did before the cheeseburger I had for lunch :p

Seriously, like lamb or steak, if it's thoroughly cooked, it's probably fine.

Ah, but you have to try the Shepherds pie peppered with actual shepherd! Um, good!

Or those yummy Girl Scout cookies! :D

I guess it wouldn't hurt to get myself checked out... after that, I'll just forget this ever happened...

Don't waste your time or money going to get checked out by a doctor. You ate a kebab and where not sick afterwards so there is nothing medically wrong with you.

You have no idea what you actually ate all you have seen is a TV report which states it could have been cat, it just as easily could have been dog or who knows maybe it actually was lamb. Just move on it really is not worth getting stressed about.

The chinese restaurant a couple of miles from my house has been busted at least 3 times for having cats in their meat locker. These are not mousers.

eeeeeeechhh.

OTOH, some years ago I poured myself some good old grapenuts, and was munching happily away when I realized it tasted bitter. Looked in the bowl to see dozens and dozens of worm casings floating in the milk.

I wouldn't eat from a street vendor in Asia, period.

Rita

[QUOTE=sfbarry]Did it taste like chicken?? :D They said the cuy I ordered in Cusco would....but they lied... :rolleyes:

Wow, i've never had the guts to order cuy (fyi guniea pig). I'm a pretty adventerous eater, but just can't in this case. The restaurant that served cuy in Lima served it whole, with head on.

Back to China. You do have to becareful when eating out at street vendors. I never do as you don't know what you're getting. At least when I was in France and Italy, I knew I was getting horse or breaded cow brains in tomato sauce.

Another thing that I realized when in Beijing was NEVER to get water from individual vendors. Apparantely, they'll send kids out to collect the empty bottles and refill them with tap water. That's how people get sick as you can't drink the tap in China.

so is dog. Relax and get a hold of yourself.
...
M8
Me, at nice restaurant: "So, what's the Catch of the Day?"
Waiter: "Doberman!"

OH MY GOD! I think I ate cat meat kabob/satay in Shanghai, China! (disguised as lamb)...

Yet another reason I'm so glad to be vegetarian!

GG

Wow, i've never had the guts to order cuy (fyi guniea pig). I'm a pretty adventerous eater, but just can't in this case. The restaurant that served cuy in Lima served it whole, with head on.
There's a restaurant in Brooklyn that serves cuy. I think it's the only one in the US.

They serve it whole, too.

It does NOT taste like chicken. More like gelatinous ham. Tastewise it wasn't too bad, but I didn't care for the texture at all.

Yet another reason I'm so glad to be vegetarian!

GG

Canners change the label on the vegatable cans depending upon the maggot count. Premium veggies have less than 100 maggots per pound.

Grain has a rat/mouse feces limit. don't know what the limitations are.

I've heard of it prepared as a stew.Not limited to Asia. I had cat stew in a back street trattoria in Italy in the mid 1980's. The owner/cook claimed it was "lepre" (wild hare), but my table mates pointed out the curve of the leg bones...

Canners change the label on the vegatable cans depending upon the maggot count. Premium veggies have less than 100 maggots per pound.

Grain has a rat/mouse feces limit. don't know what the limitations are.

Makes me even more glad I don't eat canned vegetables. LOL

GG

Oh I forgot.... I also (accidentally) had goat udder on my recent trip :eek:

Still not as disturbing as cat... but close.

I am so glad I'm a vegetarian.

/E

Its about time they started serving cat meat! The dog owner's lobby is finally doing its job....

I've never seen two Chinese people that look similar. That'd gotta be him ! Any they think all the roundeyes look alike. :eek:

And you didn't even win the $50,000 from Fear Factor for eating it?

Oh I forgot.... I also (accidentally) had goat udder on my recent trip :eek:


Don't know about the udders, but goat meat is excellent and lower in cholesterol than any other red meat. It is good for you compared to cow. Stay healthy, eat more goat.

THE best ribs I have ever had anywhere on this planet were in beautiful downtown Hanoi. Place run by Ozzie ex-pats called Al Frescos. Also the best pizza I have ever had. Only later did I wonder: Were the ribs cow? Pig? Kangaroo? Other? :eek: Other Other? :eek: :eek:

Glad I did not ask. I would have them again no problem. Damn they are good. Sure did not taste like chicken!

FYI: My tour book says there are places that serve dog in Hanoi, but patronized almost exclusively by locals. Most open only a few days a month, as having a little fido fillet is supposed to be good luck at certain times of the month, either full or new moon time. So the places serve fido burgers for three or four days at whatever time of the moon cycle that the astrologer says is Special. :D

Probably a better cut than what goes into the average hotdog, and fresher and more natural than what goes into the average Arby's sandwich :).

fresher and more natural than what goes into the average Arby's sandwich :).


Why Arby? What have you heard? :) Please elaborate... thanks!

[QUOTE=barefootflying]How is that possible? Cats would go beserk if you put them in water. My cat would rather die than be given a bath. :)
QUOTE]

clipped for brevity

You are supposed to put the cat in boiling water, silly.

This is all part of foreign travel that one risks. For me, I should have known that the $4 churrascaria (including a beer) in Brazil did not serve the meats I was accustomed to eating. Another clue should have been that I was the only one eating there at a prime dinner time. A third clue when my brain began to think beyond the bargain I was getting was some of the funny-tasting meat was hollow. A year wiser, I am posting this message while here in San Pedro Sula in Honduras. Mrs. Outoftown wanted to eat at the Applebee's and we got conos (ice cream) at McD's. OK by me. She is curious about the street vendor food in the market in el centro, but she won't risk it. For me, some of the best and freshest food I've had is from roadside vendors. When I was with the guys in Mexico, the street vendor tacos are awesome after a night of carousing. The tacoquilera (sp?) hacks the meat off a rotating spit. If no flys are buzzing around, they have the temperature hot enough. Last time, my coworker got sick, I didn't. That's the breaks. Cabrito (goat) in Mexico is a delicacy and anyone traveling there should try it.

Down here in the south, try the roadside vendor boiled peanuts. How else will you get to know something tasty and different unless you give it a shot? They generally don't sell this stuff at grocery stores or restaurants.

Outoftown

I wonder if the OP has taken to craving catnip since returning from Shanghai?

And I wonder if the OP is able to lick herself :p

FYI: My tour book says there are places that serve dog in Hanoi, but patronized almost exclusively by locals. Most open only a few days a month, as having a little fido fillet is supposed to be good luck at certain times of the month, either full or new moon time. So the places serve fido burgers for three or four days at whatever time of the moon cycle that the astrologer says is Special. :D

Avoid the places that say "Thit Cho" or "Thit Cay"... they both mean "Dog Meat"... the big picture of a German sheppard is also a clue.

Thit Heo is pork.
Thit Bo is beef.
Thit Ga is chicken.
Thit De is goat.

Am I missing anything (important)?

Sound the alarm:
I've eaten god knows what in Thailand...first I was told it was fox, then horse, then pork. Whatever it was...it was good.

Not to mention I don't even want to know what was in the sausage I ate when I was drunk on the beach in Rio. Nor where the milk for that delicious barbequed cheese came from.

Still Alive!

Should I go see my doctor on Monday and get myself examined? If so, what kind of diseases could I have gotten? The news mentioned something about parasites in cats... I have not felt any thing weird with my body in the last couple of month... but still... do I have reason to worry? :(

Again... OH MY GOD!!! I am about to barf out my dinner... Yes, I'm a cat lover and a cat owner... :( :( :(
If you haven't gotten sick by 2 months later, I can't imagine you will have any health problems. As a dog lover who really really dislikes cats, I could comment further but will refrain from doing so out of respect for you.

A not entirely rhetorical question: I'm fairly badly allergic to cats (no, not as in "choke up and die", but still a rather unpleasant "instant hay fever"). What would happen if I ate one?

IceTrojan, thanks for the Vietnamese language lesson, will keep my eyes open later this month as I've meant to sample that for a while :D

A not entirely rhetorical question: I'm fairly badly allergic to cats (no, not as in "choke up and die", but still a rather unpleasant "instant hay fever"). What would happen if I ate one?
no idea, but the scary part is that you would likely be in a part of the world which did not have the cleanest of hospital facilities. :eek:

Oh I forgot.... I also (accidentally) had goat udder on my recent trip :eek:

Still not as disturbing as cat... but close.

FYI - There numerous places in LA to get goat dishes; a fairly wide variety of cuisines too - Chinese, Korean, West Indian, Pakistani, Mexican & Indian. In fact there was an article in the Sunday LA Times magazine pointing out the great variety of places one can get goat meat dishes (it's also sold in some Costco stores according to the article) :D

FYI - There numerous places in LA to get goat dishes; a fairly wide variety of cuisines too - Chinese, Korean, West Indian, Pakistani, Mexican & Indian. In fact there was an article in the Sunday LA Times magazine pointing out the great variety of places one can get goat meat dishes (it's also sold in some Costco stores according to the article) :D
Satay Kambing, sold in Indonesia, is a very yummy goat dish. I'll concede that much of my taste for the dish is from the peanut sauce which comes with satay kambing though.

Does Singapore Airlines serve satay on flight departing from China??? :(

I think it's "okay" to eat cats, as long as they are healthy.
It's just another form of meat. However, I probably have
a different opinoin if I were a vegetarian or a cat-lover... :(

My best friend has a potbelly pig as a family pet. It's the
cutest litte thing I ever saw. However, my friend still serve
pork for dinner.... (but I don't think the pig realizes it) :)

There's a restaurant in Brooklyn that serves cuy. I think it's the only one in the US.

They serve it whole, too.

It does NOT taste like chicken. More like gelatinous ham. Tastewise it wasn't too bad, but I didn't care for the texture at all.

Being a lazy SOB, I want to ask a favor: could you e-mail me
with the name and address of the restaurant?

Maybe Danny would be interested in hosting a Do around a
Guinea pig meal.

Being a lazy SOB, I want to ask a favor: could you e-mail me
with the name and address of the restaurant?

Maybe Danny would be interested in hosting a Do around a
Guinea pig meal.

don't know about Guinea pig meal.... but if interested in iguana meat cuisine, there's a couple of them in Washington, DC.(near the big Latin American suspermarket) taste like chicken..(not really, more like duck to me)

I'm fairly badly allergic to cats (no, not as in "choke up and die", but still a rather unpleasant "instant hay fever"). What would happen if I ate one?D
Probably nothing would happen, if they served you wholesome skinless meat.

But if they served you cat rinds, watch out. It's the fur and accompanying impurities to which people are allergic.

Ah, but you have to try the Shepherds pie peppered with actual shepherd! Um, good!
You mean the German kind or the Bethlehem kind? (You know, the ones in the fields looking over their flocks by night around Christmastime.)

QUOTE=barefootflying: How is that possible? Cats would go beserk if you put them in water. My cat would rather die than be given a bath.

clipped for brevity. end QUOTE

You are supposed to put the cat in boiling water, silly.

And P.E.T.A. has been complaining about the treatment of live lobsters destined for the dinner table.


Travel tips:
http://members.aol.com/ajaynejr/travel.htm

Something like 15 years ago I heard a news report of a restaurant busted for serving sweet and sour bear but calling it sweet and sour pork on the menu. I suppose they would not have been busted if they at least called it sweet and sour bear.

Being a lazy SOB, I want to ask a favor: could you e-mail me
with the name and address of the restaurant?

Maybe Danny would be interested in hosting a Do around a
Guinea pig meal.
Ha! That would be quite the DO!

e-mail sent. Enjoy! ;)

Probably nothing would happen, if they served you wholesome skinless meat.

But if they served you cat rinds, watch out. It's the fur and accompanying impurities to which people are allergic.


Actually, isn't it the cat's saliva that humans have a histamine reaction to?

I'm allergic to cats... but they're still fun to play with.

Actually, isn't it the cat's saliva that humans have a histamine reaction to?

I'm allergic to cats... but they're still fun to play with.
No, I think it's "dander" which is flakes of their skin, hair, etc.:
http://kidshealth.org/parent/asthma_basics/dictionary/dander.html

No, I think it's "dander" which is flakes of their skin, hair, etc.:
http://kidshealth.org/parent/asthma_basics/dictionary/dander.html

I guess it's both? From WebMD:

The animal's saliva on the fur from cleaning itself or on your skin from slobbery kisses can also incite a reaction. Pet urine can also be a culprit.

I had thought it was the dander from dogs and saliva from cats.

And who says FT isn't educational?!

I'm allergic to cats... but they're still fun to play with.

Sorry to break this to you.... but it's the cats who are playing with the humans... :)

Something like 15 years ago I heard a news report of a restaurant busted for serving sweet and sour bear but calling it sweet and sour pork on the menu. I suppose they would not have been busted if they at least called it sweet and sour bear.
This sounds a little improbable -- bear is a delicacy in much of the world and much more expensive that cheap ol' pork.

Yes, I'm a cat lover and a cat owner... :( :( :(

Maybe that's your problem. :)

Seriously, who cares if you might have eaten some cat 2 months ago? Get over it and move on.

Are you really surprised that you might have ended up with some mystery meat when you ate at a street stall in China? If so, you probably weren't ready to visit China in the first place.

...1/5 of the world would be horrified that you ate pig...i mean come on...if u got sick thats one thing, but otherwise who cares?? What an over-reaction...heres a suggestion..stay in only American owned hotels , eat in only their restaurants when you travel overseas...trust me there are many others just like you when you travel so you will have lots of company eating burgers and fries night after night. Get a life!

Back to the original subject... I am also someone who eats "almost" everything... but the thought of having eaten a cat sickens me... As I type this, my cat is staring at me in a funny way. :(


Maybe your cat is thinking of returning the favor. ;)

Doppy: thanks; something to consider, as cuy is the one thing on the
BBC top 50 that I haven't eaten.

SeeYa: wasn't there a cartoon once where some guy has a cat
purring alongside, the translation given by the cartoonist being:
"If I were as big as you, I would eat you."

You're both right. Dander is not dandruff (flaking skin), it is the dried saliva that then flakes off the skin, and is the chief culprit in most people's pet allergies :)

I'm a cat lover, and have eaten dog... no problem, though a bit stringy. It wasn't my pet, no problem here. I've had horse and gator, too... and if you've had McDonald's hamburgers, then you've eaten sawdust. Cat was probably tastier.

...1/5 of the world would be horrified that you ate pig...i mean come on...if u got sick thats one thing, but otherwise who cares?? What an over-reaction...heres a suggestion..stay in only American owned hotels , eat in only their restaurants when you travel overseas...trust me there are many others just like you when you travel so you will have lots of company eating burgers and fries night after night. Get a life!

American owned but locally run, one never knows what can creep into the kitchen ;)

Go back to the Mall of America and get yourself a starbucks and some orange chicken at the Panda Express and you'll be all set!

Rule 1 when travelling overseas, follow the locals. Generally if whatever's being cooked is being eaten by the locals, it can't be too bad.

The only problem with this suggestion is that locals develop immunity to many local infectious disease agents when very young and can then eat all sorts of things safely. If you tried this approach in Mexico for very long, I can assure you that you would get pretty sick pretty quickly.