Backlog -- Eating Dog

Originally written: Spring 2010


Alright—in the interests of honest journalism, I should admit that I did not actually eat dog while in China. I did have a rather lively conversation about it though with a group of other American exchange students, one of whom was a vegetarian; a Scottish guy from our class; and a girl from Kazakhstan. We were all out for lunch together at a restaurant near the campus, and I’m not sure who thought it would be a good topic to introduce to the table, but it was introduced. And once a topic such as that is put on the table (figuratively speaking), it’s hard to take it back off. I’d say we spent anywhere between half an hour to a full hour talking about it, during which time we all gorged ourselves indiscriminately on a number of meats that we probably didn't know the origins to. But the general consensus was that, given the opportunity to eat dog, we’d probably give it a try. The vegetarian at the table was vehemently opposed to this, for reasons that I suppose are rather obvious, but he seemed even more disgusted with the thought of eating dog than just eating meat in general (not an unusual sentiment, and one that many habitual meat-eaters share). I think the Scottish guy, who we called Scottish Mike on account of the fact that his name was Mike and he was Scottish, might have actually eaten dog before, but I can’t remember his comments on it if so. The girl from Kazakhstan didn’t speak English, and so didn’t understand what we were all babbling about or why the vegetarian was getting so agitated until somebody was thoughtful enough to translate it for her into Chinese (otherwise we tried to talk through the whole lunch in Chinese, but it’s hard to get really emphatic about something in a foreign language). Overall, it was a very interesting lunch.

Now, just because I didn’t eat dog in China, that doesn’t mean I didn’t try some weird stuff while I was there. Like congealed lamb’s blood. Yes, I did eat congealed lamb’s blood, and I discovered that I had a taste for it. It’s served (at least as I had it) in little rectangles, the consistency of which reminded me somewhat of Jell-O, such that the individual squares can easily be broken down into smaller pieces with chopsticks (we all broke off very small pieces for our first try). It was a dull brown color, with a kind of pock-marked surface. As for the taste, I really can’t find a suitable comparison. Perhaps you just have to try blood for yourself to appreciate it.

As stated in My Darling Clementine, I was kind of a picky eater before coming to China. The thing about China was, there was absolutely nothing familiar for me to fall back on; eating at Chinese buffets in America does not provide any point of comparison I could find. So I was either going to radically expand my palate, or I was going to starve, and I am too much a fan of eating (and staying alive) to make this decision difficult for me. Needless to say, I probably could have gotten by without eating lamb’s blood; but once you start trying new foods for the first time, a sort of reckless abandon takes hold of you, and suddenly you’re ready to eat (almost) anything just for the novelty of it; this will eventually wear off, either with habituation to your new foods or enough bad experiences. Fortunately, and to China’s credit, I never once regretted trying something new (except for the corn on the cob in Beijing—that was terrible). There were some things I tried once and decided not to try again (mostly spicy foods) and some things that I just was not willing to try at all (such as live scorpions skewered on a stick—also in Beijing). But overall, my time in China presented a great addition to my previously narrow tastes.

If you ever find yourself in China, here are some dishes I would recommend:*

Sweet and Sour Tenderloin (糖醋里脊 tang cu li ji): Surprisingly, this seems to be one of the few Chinese dishes we got right in the West. It’s even better in China.

Peking Duck (北京烤鸭 bei jing kao ya): It’s famous for a reason. Also ridiculously complicated to eat, especially with chopsticks. Have a Chinese person help you.

Sweet Potato Mud (红薯泥 hong shu ni): Oh my god it’s delicious. A more flattering translation might be sweet potato paste, but you just eat it directly with a spoon. It’s also piping hot when served, which might not be immediately obvious, so be cautious.

Chinese Cabbage and Tofu (白菜豆腐 bai cai dou fu): I don’t care if you hate it in the United States, you’re not allowed to say anything against tofu until you’ve had it prepared for you in China. This is my personal favorite tofu dish, and very mild for beginners to start on.

Anything with cucumbers (黄瓜 huang gua) or eggplants (茄子 qie zi) in it: It’s all good.

Dumplings (饺子 jiao zi): Duh. You can also try variations such as bao zi (包子), which are steamed stuffed buns, or many others that I didn’t bother learning the names to.

Peach Juice (桃汁 tao zhi): Not technically a dish, but a delicious sweet drink. Usually comes in a box carton.

Oatmeal Flavored Ice Cream: I don’t even remember how to write or say this in Chinese, but it’s wonderful, and there are ice cream vendors all across China.


Oh, and dog (狗 gou). I hear it’s great.

*note: I am using simplified characters (简体字) in writing the names of these dishes, because that’s what you’re most likely to see in mainland China.