Ohoho! Ya you can shoot this
Wow!
I think the thing that may be disconcerting in this to some is that
it's still in the shape of the animal. That's the front part
and that's the butt and then the legs.
This is like a liver. Is that a liver?
- Ya... - I just wanna get a bit hunk of it somewhere... maybe the style
That's me! - My name is Sonny. And you might be
wondering how I got here. Well let me start from the beginning
When I first came to Vietnam, I was on a mission
to find the most unique and possibly unusual
foods this place had to offer.
- It was like ...
I ate giant crickets
Nosh a couple scorpions. Took a shot of
Cobra heart and guzzle a bit of snake wine \m/
All these tasty treats were pretty easily found within
the city of SaiGon. But rat
is a different story! Delicious animals come in all shapes and sizes.
So it breaks my heart when I see Americans
eating only chickens, cows and pigs
when it's just so much more out there. Oddly enough
I've been wanting to try a rat for a while
but you can't find it in the city. And if you do see it there, RUN! Now I wouldn't recommend
eating a street rat eating the garbage all night. But rats in Vietnam
the kind you eat for dinner feast on a diet
of rice and fresh water. So they're basically paleo.
And some of them do CrossFit. Today we've been journeyed a couple
hours south of Ho Chi Minh City to this small
a huge interconnecting series of rivers and streams
that eventually empty into the sea. Australia has
and Vietnam has the MeKong Delta.Today we
are being at a market in MeKong Delta - a countryside market
where locals sell fish, veggie, fruits and... rats.
We're here for the rats. The smug traveller inside of me loves this
type of place. No pesky backpack wearing
foreigners breaking my facade of having an authentic
travelling experience. Vendors looking at this
like we must have taken the wrong turn while others
remain completely indifferent. This place is unapologetically
Vietnam! Rats and all! We've only been here
not even 2 minutes and already we found a huge bin of rats.
We'll go check them out. Maybe they're on sale.
- Do people buy 1 rat or how do they buy it? - No. Normally
-... they count kilos. They sell the rats by the
kilogram. And one kilogram so (?) 7 rats.
And like if she is eating a meal, how many would she eat?
[Vietnamese] - Ổng hỏi, trong cái bữa ăn của mình, mình ăn khoảng bao nhiêu con (chuột)? - Mình ăn khoảng 2-3 con là đủ rồi.
- One. One person around
... 2 or 3 rats. - Oh, so I would have like 5 or 6.
- Maybe. - Ya, I think. So this is
-... rice rat. - Rice rat?
- The meat is very sweet. - Oh O.O - Very good meat. - I am getting hungry already.
- You wouldn't eat a rat from the city? - Ya. Like
- in Ho Chi Minh City, you can not eat. - No. Right!
- And the city rats will taste different, right?
- Ya, different. - And there'll probably be more arrogant, right?
Tell with my guys today. He gonna show me around the market
help me buy some top-sell (?) rats and
take me to his home deep in the MeKong Delta
to cook them up. - When is the last time you eat a rat?
- Oh... I think it's couple weeks ago.
- We've got all the pig heads.
- Very nice! - So these are... prawns.
- Right? Shrimp? - Shrimp! - Ya. I think most people realize that
- Shrimps have claws.
I... I'd like to say "most people" and that's how I fell like I am not dumb because I don't realize
they have claws. - You think they gonna pinch me?
- Ya. - Really? Pinch me?
Ohohohohohoho
- The big one... - And that's a huge one! Do you like snake?
- Yes. - It turns out... It's a hard thing to weight.
- I mean... Look at them try to weight it.
- He is trying to give me the smell of snake. It's an onion snake.
- That's why it smells like onion.
- Oh GOD! Its head is over here.
- It smells like onion.
- It does smell a little bit like onion. I think I gonna buy the rats from here.
- [Seller]: Ouch!
- Good morning!
- She is taking a little nap but guess what it's time to sell some rats.
- When she takes it out, she [action] to kill it.
- Oh ya. So how
- did she kill it - the rat?
- Oh GOD. So she gonna do that all right now?
- How much are the snakes per kilogram?
- Hmm. One kilogram = 500.000đ.
- The rat is way cheaper. OMG, look at this!
- No. Keep shooting!
One thing to keep in mind:
The way they kill the rats - They grab
the tail and they smash it on the top here.
- Probably what's happening is they're snapping the rat spine
and then the rat... it's just dead. It's just dead immediately.
When you see it still twitching,
that's like its nerves. Right! It's not that the rat is suffering
It's not in pain. It's dead. So probably
I know it looks brutal and gruesome, it's probably the
quickest, least messy, most humane way to kill it actually.
Though, we're about to see 7 examples of that now.
As I said, it is really f***king endurable... You know.
And you gonna see them twitching even though when she's all the way
down butchering them. They still gonna be twitching.
It's very disconcerting. But they're DEAD.
They're DEAD
rats. I don't know. I don't know if too much of force. Right now she's going to
to skin them, clean them, all about it. 2 minutes!
I think she's done it a few times. Oh GOD!
She cuts off the legs...
I am curious. You bought rats
today. Is it a special occasion? - It's a really nice.
- The meat is very sweat. So
- She really likes it. - Oh. I gonna eat it today. Today
- his mom is gonna make rats for us.
- What is the best kind of wine to pair with rats?
[Vietnamese] - Ờ. Ảnh hỏi khi mà mình ăn chuột
chuột này mình sẽ uống với loại rượu nào?
She says rice wine.
Rice wine? Rice wine with the rice rats. Perfect!
- Can I eat these? - Yes. - Right now like this?
- No. We have to grill or fry. - Oh. Ok.
- So they dry the rat out and then you still
- fry it or grill it. Ok, I thought it were like Rat Turkey
over here. I'll get ready to just like pull off the leg. Dodge a bullet there.
- So your mom has cooked rats before right?
- Ya. A lot of times. - So she's good? - Yes. - This is awesome.
- She - my mom - she is the best cook(er) in Vietnam.
- The best cook(er) in Vietnam? OK, I gonna ask her about this :v
First of all, thank you so much for
letting me come here and
and your mom is cooking up the rat.
And we get to do it at your house and
you borrow this table and chairs. And it's like... I am really blown away by.
So thank you so much. I used to have a rat for a pet.
But you have these dogs as your pets, right? This dog is like
- Is this for eating or not? - Ahh, we can eat. - Really?
- I thought these are pets. - Normally we
- have dogs for security like security dogs.
Security.
on the menu.
I promise it'll taste
- better than chicken. - Better than chicken?
- You promise? - Ya. I promise. - Oh, that's a big...
- That's a big claim. Alright. Will see
Is the rat meat better than chicken? We're gonna find out soon.
After a long day heading at the market finding
these most premium rats, selecting them, having their heads bashed and having them skinned
bringing them here to your home
having your mother cooked them.
And it's finally time for the first time of my life
we're gonna feast on rat and you say
it's better than chicken. - Ya. I promise.
OK. Can we substantiate it today?
- Is that the liver? - Ya. - Ya. I gonna start from the liver.
- Mmmm. This liver is hardly been used
because, again, it wasn't one of those inner-city druggy rats
It's a country rat that eats rice
Really pure. It's like eating whole foods in life.
- How do you feel about it? - I like it. I like liver.
I think I've had so many different animal livers in this trip so far.
I can see it in your eyes. You love it right?
- So nice... - But there're just so many bones...
So little guy
I just wanna get a bit hunk of meat somewhere.
- You're right. Oh, it's good.
It has really mild flavor... a little sweet.
It's just so small.
I think I need to eat 7 or 8 rats
I need to eat an extended family of rats. It's really good meat.
I could see eating it in some soup, some rice
Cake, just a sheet cake.
The skin is good.
I am gonna do like this
- OK? - I hate to say it guys...
- It's pretty damm good.
Oh. This one is even better.
Well, there you have its folk. You definitely need to try rats.
But - a couple of things to keep in mind.
Field rat not city rat. The second thing is
come to his parents' house. Now
people can just come there to eat if they want to? - Ya.
- Is that cool? - Ya. - OK. But make a reservation first. Don't be rude. All right?
We'll see you next time
On the Best Ever Food Review Show
- Isn't that...?
-... poop? - Ya!
market in the MeKong Delta. The Mekong Delta is
the Outback
Wow. OK. Everything is