This is obviously a cultural divide. This video shows how the Chinese have devised a way to keep a fish alive during frying so that it can be eaten alive.
I find the whole video perfectly disturbing and disgusting. What is striking is how our cultures differ on such subjects. I have been to China repeatedly and I am always struck by the detachment over such issues. Of course, I enjoyed eating sushi in Japan where the live fish is only seconds previously dispatched. However, watching the taunting of the living fish is a bit much for my sensibilities.
The Japanese also eat live fish on occasion:
Mike S:
if you read my post above I wrote about communism only, Maaarrghk! added socialism. And so I could not resist.
Mike S:
cant a capitalist have a little fun?
“So you admit that socialism and communism are the same system?”
Byron,
Please! You are well read enough to know that isn’t true.
Maaarrghk!:
So you admit that socialism and communism are the same system?
Byron.
Sorry for late reply.
I am a Socialist. I do not eat live animals.
Do you think I should?
Do you think that it’s just a matter of time before I start?
If I do start, I promise to let you know.
I am a devotee of Chinese American food, it is one of my favorite things to eat and I enjoy a wide variety of its offerings. However, I have also read and seen food shows that display how the Chinese eat in their own country and while I’d love to visit China, I think I might have trouble eating anything but rice there. This though is probably true of many human ethnic cuisines worldwide. It’s not that they’re demented, it just represents a different cuisine point of view.
Interesting reactions. Perhaps it’s because I first experienced the “fried live fish” dish on a trip to China way back in 1997, and had time to digest the experience (bad joke, sorry) but it doesn’t bother me. It’s the way they do things. It’s not America, people.
There’s a lot of aspects of Chinese culture that I think would horrify Americans, but you know what?
It ain’t your culture. It’s theirs. Deal with it.
They boil live dogs and cats, what do you expect?
Also, I couldn’t agree more with donatella regarding the horror of domestic corporate farming practices, and our denial of it. AND I LOVE STEAK!!!
Please forward to CIA torture department.
it’s funny to see so much ethnocentrism when probably a lot who read this blog have never seen where their food comes from or the absolute horror the animals they eat experience before being delivered to their plate.
is one horror not equal to another because of culture? i thought this clip was a bit cruel, yes… but really in the grand scheme of things when you take a step back and analyze both of our situations i would have to say factory farming is just as bad if not worse than eating a fried live fish and taunting it while in the act.
what i don’t understand is: what is the point of frying it if it’s still alive? it defeats the purpose… and i have a feeling that fish probably ‘releases’ while being picked apart/fried all over its flesh…ugh…
one would hope, anyway!
poor creatures…when will we learn to respect what nourishes us instead of treating them as if they were never a living, breathing entity? it’s one thing to eat food that is humanely raised and slaughtered– it’s a whole ‘nother ‘animal’ when we torture and taunt our food first.
p.s. even if you are not the one factory farming you are still partially responsible for the treatment of the meat you eat. you are inviting into your body the flesh of an animal which is still tarnished by the cruelty of how it died. you as a consumer (with your habits) continue this practice like it or not.
maybe next time you’re going out to eat, or purchsing food from the market consider getting the morse expenive, naturally fed cut instead of the bargain buy. your health will improve dramatically, and it is one of the most valuable investments in the future an individual can make!
Calling it animal cruelty would almost be putting it lightly.
In Belgium we have a ban on the eating of live fish, let alone frying them beforehand….
But hey, the Chinese are also known to eat cardbord snacks, God knows who comes up with this stuff,… probably the sick.
Cruel is too weak a word. Unnecessary doesn’t even come close.
Oops! I found it the half-half. Sorry about jumping to conclusions.
I see live small fish being being chuga-lugged in the video, but no half-cooked, still-alive large fish as shown on a plate in the still photo.
The former does not meet the promise of the blog item and the latter doesn’t count. Did I miss something somewhere?
I don’t eat catfish out of Professional Courtesy. So I damn sure ain’t gonna eat bait….
I put this in the eating live worms category.
Although disgusting and ethically inappropriate as eating a live animal is, I would like to point out that live fish get eaten every day – by other fish. Backwards? Yes. Revolting? Certainly. Wrong? I’m pretty sure most major belief systems would frown on this and there simply is no ethical justification. But unnatural? Not at all. It is by choice that we are different from animals. Some do not make that choice well.
I am experiencing culture shock.
I like meat, poultry and fish. But there is something seriously wrong with this. I have read also that they eat live baby mice and call it the “meal of 3 squeals”. Supposedly they are also starting to eat aborted human fetuses as a health tonic.
I used to think the Chinese were like us, after seeing them play with that fish I have changed my mind. That was wrong on so many levels.
But then I suppose that is what communism does to people, it is dehumanizing and does not respect the individual. What do you expect?
YUCK!
Are you sure this isn’t some sort of hoax?
I cannot for the life of me understand why anyone would want to eat an animal that was still living.
Just what is the point of that?
I have seen old film footage of special forces soldiers eating live snakes, but would assume that this is due to situations they may find themselves in where they have to eat on the move and simply do not have time to kill and prepare food.
But in a restaurant setting – pointless barbarity and I don’t particularly care if I am labelled as “racist” for my view on this.