When I first came to China on business about 6 years ago, like most first-timers, I was somewhat startled by what is eaten by the Chinese…. it seemed that anything & everything could go into the enormous variety of food dishes available here.

I later learned that there is a local saying that the Chinese eat anything with legs on, except the tables & chairs…

I met up with a friend the other night in Beijing and over dinner we ended up discussing the Chinese preferences in their meat, fish & poultry dishes and it became very clear that what would end up in petfood in the west is considered by many here to be the very best parts of the meat.

To prove this to me, the next day he took me to the eastern suburbs market - a huge sprawling area where it appears to be possible to buy everything that is available in China…. but we were not looking for army surplus boots or pots & pans, the meat & fish area was our designated target.

Well… I can tell you that it’s not a place for the faint hearted or vegans!

Literally every part of a pig, sheep, cow or bull seems to be available and my visit started with an encounter with the pork area where I was confronted with a very discerning shopper selecting a large quantity of pig’s intestines.

A little further down the aisle was the not so little piggy who went to market and never came back…

Apparently roast pig’s head was very popular a few years ago and there were a number of restaurants in Beijing that specialized in serving it.

Before moving on my friend tastefully positioned another nearby pig’s head so that I could take a posthumous portrait.

Prior to entering the beef area I paused to admire a fine collection of pig’s tongues – another highly sought after delicacy.

The beef area had a range of meat cuts and cow & bull organs and appendages, the first to catch my eye being a pleasing array of freshly skinned tails.

The next culinary ingredient surprise was the bull’s penis area….

I am assured that a soup made from this delicacy is not only delicious but just the job for a flagging male libido and, in the rare event that it did not do the trick, fried or grilled bull’s penis is guaranteed!

As you can see the bull’s penis specialist was delighted to show me his selection….

From the beef area we entered the lamb & mutton area and were greeted by a brace of sheep’s heads complete with their full compliment of brain matter….

Next was the poultry area and the interesting fact that chicken feet are the more highly prized part of a chicken and fetch a much higher price than the breast or leg.

This is apparently  because most Chinese believe the taste of the feet is much better than the rest of the chicken and there is a strong belief amongst Chinese women that eating chicken feet will make their skin smoother & nicer!

However, I have since been corrected (thanks Eileen…) that it’s a delicacy because of the way it’s cooked, with the texture working well with chilli black bean sauce. 

The fish market area has  a large array of fresh & sea-water fish and it was very interesting to see how the fish-heads are more highly sought after than the fish bodies and apparently fetch a 40% premium.

There was an unusual assortment of fish internal parts that I neither recognised or, at that point suffering from organ & appendage overload, cared to ask about….

Filed under: China - China Crack
by Don Silcock