Tuesday November 28 8:18 AM ET Heavy Floods Deny Farmers Rat Barbecue

HO CHI MINH CITY, Vietnam (Reuters) - Vietnamese farmers will miss out on traditional rat barbecues this season as recent floods have largely wiped out the pest, experts say.

Rats have been the cause of many problems for rice farmers in the Mekong Delta in recent years, so enterprising farmers have taken to selling and eating the rodents to alleviate the problem.

Rats destroyed 245,000 hectares (605,400 acres) of rice crops last year in Vietnam, the world's second largest rice exporter after Thailand, according to a study compiled by the Southern Vietnam's Institute of Agriculture Sciences.

But since August, heavy rains and severe flooding in the region have washed away most of the rodents.

``Last year rat meat was about 5,000 dong ($0.345) per kilo in the market. But this year, there's none available. Major floods have killed them all,'' said an official at the institute.

Rat meat is a common source of protein in the region and until this year officials had been battling with the question of how to catch the rats without using poison.

http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/nm/20001128/od/rats_dc_1.html

-- Micky Mouse (the@cooking.channel), November 29, 2000

Answers

Oh no!!!!!!!

-- Micky Mouse (the@cooking.channel), November 29, 2000.

Quaint. Now I know what 5000 dong looks like...

-- Pieter (zaadz@icisp.net.au), November 29, 2000.

Do ya reckon we might want to buy some rat futures or maybe go into the export biz?

We could make a killin'!!!(ok,send moi to the punitentiary)

-- capnfun (capnfun1@excite.com), November 29, 2000.

I don't give a rat's ass.

-- (nemesis@awol.com), November 29, 2000.

Those barbarians are no better than their fetus munching chinese counterparts.

-- multiculturalism destroys nations (barbarians@the.gate), November 29, 2000.

Are barbecued rats dehaired and gutted before being cooked, or are they skewered *as is* in order to let the viscera plump up all tender and such?

-- dinosaur (dinosaur@williams-net.com), November 29, 2000.

So, if 5000 dong = US$0.345, then one dong = US$0.000069... Which would make a million dong = sixty-nine cents. Which would make my total worth in Vietnam equal to... about... WOW! 184 million dong! (I feel richer already.)

-- I'm Here, I'm There, (I'm Everywhere,@So.Beware), November 29, 2000.

Now I understand how they beat our military. Their dongs are worthless, and a guy with a worthless dong is a mean SOB.

-- Uncle Deedah (unkeed@yahoo.com), November 29, 2000.

Are barbecued rats dehaired and gutted before being cooked, or are they skewered *as is* in order to let the viscera plump up all tender and such?

I believe you're thinking of ratkabob (not to be confused with rattatui, which is the preferred recipe of the upper class). Most working stiffs actually just go down and pick up a bucket of Rat McNuggets.

(There. That takes care of me wanting anything to eat for the next couple of days...)

-- I'm Here, I'm There, (I'm Everywhere,@So.Beware), November 29, 2000.

Something along these lines perhaps? "Food for thought"

-- no one here (-@-.-), November 30, 2000.

Now this an interesting turn..I've been so pre-occupied with mastering the many and varied recipes for cats ..now I can drift off tangent to learn the vast array of rat recipes...

-- meat be meat (whether its c@t.or rat), November 30, 2000.

I don't give a rat's ass.

-- (nemesis@awol.com), November 29, 2000.

^^^^taps nems shoulder and says "good thing you DONT give a rat's ass, cuz you wont be able to find none there".

ROFL

-- sumer (shh@aol.con), December 01, 2000.