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[RedKing]

Crunchy, fried thing I got in Beijing: No idea what it was, but tasted great.

If RedKing's experiences are any indication, it was probably rat.

We called anything that wasn't readily identifiable "street meat". Because it was usually being sold by a street vendor. And it was usually fucking delicious. When you're drunk on a combination of weak-ass lager and oh-shit-I'm-blind baijiu at 3am in Sanlitun (one of the big nightlife districts in Beijing), fried meat on a stick rubbed with cumin and chilis and god knows what else is the best thing in the world. Regardless of whatever form it lived its sad, short life in before passing through fire and death to end up in my mouth.

[ChairmanPoo]

I'd be more worried about getting parasites.

[Akura]

I'd be more worried about being incomprehensibly drunk at 3AM on the streets of Beijing.

...Unless parasites come with that.


Unfortunately, I don't think I've had much of "non-standard" meat. I think I had deer once, and it wasn't that great, but the that could have been poor preparation(and it wasn't exactly fresh).

[Culise]

Would people count things like tripe and sweetbreads as nonstandard?

Might be a regional thing. I've had tripe, but only at one particular korean restaurant that's the only place I know of that serves it. And sweetbread I had to look on up wikipedia to even know what you were talking about. I've heard of it, but I didn't realize it was meat.

I've had tripe prepared by my godmother's... mother (man that sounds strange) who is Sicilian. I did also see something similar prepared at a chinese restaurant I used to work at. It's got a distinctive odor when it's cooking.

The more I think about it, the more I think that there aren't any non standard meats, just foods that are unfamiliar on an individual basis. And that it might be interesting to expand the conversation to other foods. Think of all the vegetables and tubers and fruits and so on that are regional. I'd never tried lotus root until this year.

Oh, lotus is fairly decent; I've only ever had it once, though.  Cooked sugarcane is really good, too.  Really, quite sweet (obviously), with a kinda barky taste from the indigestible cellulose.  I had it in a Vietnamese restaurant, where they actually warned me several times that it was rather unusual and that I would probably not like it before serving it to me; of course, they've never run into my sweet tooth before. ^_^

[RedKing]

I'd be more worried about being incomprehensibly drunk at 3AM on the streets of Beijing.

China is probably one of the safest places (as an expat, at least) to be blinding drunk in the middle of the night. One night in Hangzhou, I staggered out of the bar to head back to my dorm room, which was only 100m away. I wound up walking for 3 hours, because at some point I had crossed the street when I didn't need to, and walked around the same city block until I sobered up enough for my brain to go "this isn't working, and I've passed the bar a dozen times now. Let's try crossing the street there and see if it works any better"

Never accosted, never pickpocketed, hell never even stopped by a cop. Might have fared a bit less well in some parts of Shanghai or even sketchier parts of Beijing or Guangzhou, but for the most part there's safety in numbers. You might get pickpocketed but you're highly unlikely to get mugged with a few hundred people around you at all times, even at 3am.

[Askot Bokbondeler]

Octopus - An acquired taste, a bit rubbery
Squid - Excellent if prepared properly

these are non-standard meats in the rest of the world? also, the octopus must be frozen for a few days and then unfrozen to soften it, then it's delicious.

this inspired me. i'll be cooking cuttlefish tonight. i'll stew it with chickpeas, regular peas, red bell peppers, tomato, and plenty of onions. it will be glorious

[Dutchling]

I ate deer once and duck twice.

Deer felt like rubber. Duck was okay-ish. I just don't really like meat that's still red :/

[Owlbread]

I didn't realise duck was non-standard. I've had goose as well. Duck just tasted like a cross between chicken and beef - quite rich.

[PanH]

I'd put duck in standard, even for western countries.

[RedKing]

Duck can be a little too rich for my taste. Had a whole roast duck this past birthday (went to a Czech restaurant, and they just happened to have one in the roaster for a reservation that cancelled). Really damn tasty, but the fat content is pretty high so it's very filling. Barely ate half of it.

Peking Duck (roast duck sliced into thin strips and served in a rolled-up crepe with a savory plum sauce) is made of sheer win, on the other hand. You're eating relatively small pieces of duck, and the sauce cuts some of the fattiness of the duck.

EDIT: Oh yeah, and crispy duck skin (thanks nenjin)

[nenjin]

Crispy Duck Skin OMNOMNOMNOMNOM.

[Frumple]

... why is it that the skin is so often the best part, anyway? Especially with birds, but it applies to other things too (potatoes, pork rinds...). Still look at people like they're crazy when they take the skin off chicken or turkey. And then usually swipe the stuff because damn if you ain't eatin' it I will!

[Haspen]

Except the usual 'chicken/beef', I had:

-Horse meat: only once, was kinda OK.
-Duck meat: quite often, my mom loves roasted duck with apples.
-Boar meat: few times on weddings and such, quite good.
-Rabbit meat: tastes like chicken.

[ChairmanPoo]

Horse meat is kind of gummy. Not bad, but a bit too hard for my tastes


(of course, courtesy of IKEA, horse meat is not rare in the West nowadays :p )

[Neonivek]

I've had Lamb and MAYBE rabit.

Honestly I didn't like them. Sometimes I even question if I really like meat >_< but I do like those burgers.