For most people, rats are considered to be unwanted visitors in the house.
Some buy traps while others simply try to lure them away.
But in China, rats are hailed for their ‘nutritional value’ and can be a delicacy on the dining table.
A possible carrier of coronavirus, bamboo rats have been a food source in China. Thousands of farmers bred them and people cooked them in different ways.
Web users even celebrated ‘100 reasons to eat bamboo rats’ until they were banned because of the coronavirus pandemic.
Zhu shu or Chinese bamboo rats are known for their fat cheeks and portly body. These rodents can weigh up to 11 pounds (5kg) and grow up to 17 inches long (45cm).
Bamboo rats’ meat can improve the functions of a person’s spleen and stomach and detoxify the body, according to traditional Chinese medicine.
The health benefits of bamboo rats are recorded in ancient Chinese encyclopedia Ben Cao Gang Mu, written by physician and pharmacologist Li Shizhen in the 16th century. It describes the animals as ‘rabbit-sized rodents which many people eat and taste like ducks.’
It was in 2018 when bamboo rats’ popularity soared in the country after two men or the ‘Hua Nong Brothers’ from the Jiangxi province uploaded videos of them breeding the rodents.
Bamboo rats quickly became a trendy food ingredient as the duo showed fans how to prepare the rats.
An internet forum shows different ways to cook the meat, from pan-frying to roasting and grilling. Articles also claim that the rodents are rich in protein.
The country’s bamboo rat breeders and their millions of rodents are now facing a fading future with the wild animal ban in place.
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Replaced!