Saturday, January 31, 2009

I have to start off by saying I am a die hard animal lover. To me any animal is angelic. I just can't fathom why anyone could and would go out hunting and kill any animal.

I grew up with a dad that was a big time hunter of what seemed that he would kill just about anything. As a kid I was oblivious to what really was going on. I remember when he would come back from frogging. That was always the fun event. Oh yah, and yes they taste just like chicken. During that time we had a backyard that was pretty much all cement so he would let the frogs out of the bag. As a kid to be around so many hopping creatures was the best. Then the knife came out. Still I was intrigued. Grossed out at this time in my life. I used to call it pantsing the frog. He would take his pocket knife out. The same one he would cut an apple with and offer you some. Then he would cut around the middle of the frog. Never thinking this was probably hurting these guys. And then he would take his pliers and pull the pants off. I apologize to anyone that I have grossed out, but there is more. Then he would cut the legs off and my mom would put them in the pan with all the seasonings. This is where, again as a kid, this was pretty cool. I don't quite understand why, but the nerves made the legs kick around and move in the pan while they were cooking. Frog legs and crawdads were the only creatures growing up that I was willing to eat.

The crawdads were the work of my sisters and I. We would go down to the creek with our buckets. I really didn't think at that time in my life I realized that I was actually killing something. It sounds so strange for me to say that. We always had a blast wading through the creek and finding things in the stream. Still the best was getting the crawdads that were hiding. If you weren't paying attention and picked one up the wrong way, well it would let you know. They hold on for dear life and hurt at the same time.

Now for cooking these guys. I remember throwing them into a pot of boiling water and watching their colors change. I don't really remember what the color change was, but I remember standing there watching and know that when the color was done, so were they.

I think for now I am done grossing me out as well as anybody else.

3 comments:

  1. Well, as a Chinese, I can't just lie and say that the article grosed me instead of rising my appetite (beware, there's a eat-almost-everything creature in your classroom).
    Yes, I am an animal lover, ask anyone who knows me well("This guy can even let the mosquito just bited him go without hesitating and say 'Everyone needs to live.'"). But I'm a Chinese as well. Complaining that food in America isn't so varied is one thing I did a lot of times.
    ---------------containing grose factors, don't read what's under if not prepared or just had meal------------------------
    Let's see, besides frogs, pidgeons have the similar taste, just a little tighter in muscle.
    Pork blood can be coagulated into something looks just like Tofu(bean curd) by adding some salt in it and let stand for some time. Can make good ingredients into the soup.
    Speaking of what's considered grose, southern Chinese earned their reputation of eating "everything that has legs except chairs and tables, everything that has wings except planes". One Chinese joke is actually about them. At nothern China, anyone find their pet lost turns to their neighbour from south first instead of the billboard (not amusing? Well, that's because you are not a Chinese~).
    ---------back to normal line----------------
    Chinese food, especially those in southern style, can sometimes better be ate without knowing what it is.

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  2. o.m.g..................i love animals. hence, why i am a vegetarian. you went into crazy description. i think i almost threw up a couple times!!! i wouldn't eat frogs. there is no way!!!

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  3. Well, I was a little grossed out, but I also recognize that the chicken I buy in the grocery store had to be "pantsed" at some point. I could never kill and prepare my own meat, but I do eat meat, so I can't criticize people who take out the middle man. I will say, though, that I do not like hunters who hunt for sport. My Papa hunted, but he ate/used every past of the animal so that it did not die in vain. I can respect that, but people who want to hang a head on the wall are a completely different story!

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