Where does this [kinda weird]belief that Chinese restaurants sometimes serve cooked cats come from? Thanks!:-)

Question

Where does this [kinda weird]belief that Chinese restaurants sometimes serve cooked cats come from? Thanks!:-)

Answer 1

Urban Legend, would be my guess.



One would think that you would run out of felines very quickly....





www.snopes.com is a good place to check out if something is true or not. If you are interested, they state the cat story is false, and have a great deal of information on how and why the story started.



http://www.snopes.com/horrors/food/chinese.asp

Answer 2

Probably based on fact. Some disredputable chinese restaurants may have "short-cutted" their recipes and budgets by using cat. But these are exeptions rather than the rule There is also an old chinese imperial dish named "cat fighting snake" ( a sort of soup/stew) where the two main ingredients were a cat and a snake. Chicken has replaced cat in todays recipe though the name is still the same. Please note that many ancient cultures did not have the modern scruples with regards to food. A delicacy in ancient Greece was roast peacock tongue. Dogs are almost deified in most western societies but it is still part of the tradional diet in many asian countries like Korea(both north and south) and China. Some Alaskan tribes still relish the taste of puppy stew . Arapaho indians consider dogs a special celebratory dish. Etc etc etc.

Answer 3

This is a pretty ignorant question...but I will answer anyway. No, Chinese don't eat cats unless they are starving because it takes too much time to process a cat when other meats are more easily procured. The Chinese have had a history of eating dog, but they will never serve it to anyone but the Chinese. Just like in Korea, who also has a history of eating dog, they will not serve it to anyone non-Korean. I must say, what we think of as a pet may be food in a different culture. Guinea pigs are eaten in south American as "cuy". Horses are eaten in some other countries also. Asians are easy targets I suppose, because we are too distinct.

Answer 4

More than likely it is based in fact. I know of a couple restaurants in my town that have actually been busted with cat in the kitchen and on the buffet. It's something that makes most people cringe here in the Us but may be just part of normal life in their home country. I can remember my Father telling me about seeing dogs hanging on hooks in Korean kitchens when he was station there as an MP during Vietnam and my cousins Husband, a Mexican, and some of his buddies pit cooking a goat to sell at migrant camps. It's odd and sometimes frightful to us but it's just the norm or even a delicacy in other parts of the world.

Answer 5

Chinese do eat almost every type of animal. Eating dogs is more common than eating cats among Chinese. I know many Chinese people well, and several of my gals have been Chinese. One told that the British forbid the Chinese to eat dogs in Hong Kong when they took control there. Soon, restaurants had signs advertising "9 meat". In Hong kong, 9 is gao. Dog is also gao.She said Vietnamese eat cats more often than Chinese do. In Red China, there was a phase of eating rats.

Answer 6

Some Asian cultures do eat cat,so that is probably where the rumors started. Also a lot of Chinese take out places use lower grades of meat. Sometimes the weird looking pieces of chicken and beef that won't break down when you chew them inspire people to complain.

Answer 7

there was a case in Cardiff in the 50 or early 60s where they found prepared cats and some people said rats in a kitchen of a Chinese restaurant, cant remember any of the details though, in their own country they eat lots of things that we wouldn't,different outlook on life

Answer 8

As is suggested, urban and suburban legends. Our parents told us not to eat street food in Tijuana because the tacos were made with dog. There is no Mexican I know of who would eat a dog or cat. Here, in Baja,dogs eat cats, they don't last long. At one time we were appalled at frog legs and escargot.It seems these dog/cat accusations are to cast aspersions on an ethnic group.

Answer 9

It is based on fact, i asked my friend who is chinese, he said that cat could be eaten as well as dog. but the difference is cat is less common than dog because cats don't taste good, so don't worry if you go to chinese restaurants they won't serve cats or anything weird. unless if you went to china...some traditional restaurants have dogs,snake. bugs.. or donkey in their menu list! needless to say, honestly i kinda lost my apetite! but yeah, different culture different thoughts, right?

Answer 10

In China you can go to the market and buy dead cat and dogs to eat. Also there has been tons of cases with the health dept. where they have found cat and dog in Chinese resturrants and had to close tehm down. I know of one in Brooklyn NY (Flatbush).

Answer 11

Some people in China do eat cats or dogs, its not a myth. I asked my friends and they told me it does happen.



Cuisine is different everywhere you go so its not hard for me to believe. We probably eat food that they would never touch.

Answer 12

Largely from bigotry. Right how there is a strong anti-sino attitude in a lot of areas in America and POOF! the legend is reborn.

Answer 13

ok this story might sound weird but it's true. we Filipinos used to joke around that siopao (steamed buns with meat inside) are made of cats