Rat- The Other White Meat

Last weekend we had another relaxing camping getaway at our top-secret undisclosed location where we spent many hours taking naps outside and playing extreme off-road bocce with some feasting on Thai food thrown in for good measure. 

Playing bocce down a hill- because we can.

On the way back to Bangkok, we noticed signs for small roadside stands that were selling grilled rat. So of course being the adventrous types, we decided to stop and try it out.

I think someone needs to work on their rat drawing skills...

Now before you all start freaking out and retching from disgust, let me explain that these are not the rats that you see scurrying around the city feasting on garbage. These rats are from rice fields where they spend all day getting fat on rice. These roadside stands then grill up the rat and sell them.

Brock exchanging baht for rat

I mentally prepared myself for trying the rat by repeating "This is grain-fed rat, it's a delicacy." and "You'll hate yourself if you don't at least try it." over and over in my head. But my preparation flew out the window as soon as Brock opened the plastic bag that the rat was wrapped in.

Look you can see its tail!

I didn't know if I could eat something that looked SO MUCH like a dead rat. So I let Brock and Guy try it out first and when they didn't immediately spit it out, I decided to go for a taste. 

The verdict- it honestly it didn't taste that bad, but it really didn't taste that good either. For one thing the rat was cold, so it tasted like cold, greasy chicken that was fortified with iron. The metallic taste of the meat did not appeal to me, and I didn't eat anymore after the first taste. But now I can say that I've tried grilled rat, and that was worth it.