Eek! The Year of the Rat is near!

It's coming on February 7 -- The Year of the Rat.  Though we tend to think of the rodents in disparaging ways, they're highly valued for their courage and enterprising ways.  They're known to be clever, bright, sociable and family-oriented.  (Rats reproduce with abandon and perceived to be rather lusty creatures!) Their interested are diverse and they are very nimble, able to adapt and react to changing conditions.

(In Vietnam, the cuter mouse is the animal associated with this astrological sign. However, since most Asians celebrating the Lunar New Year go with the Chinese preference, I'm using the rat. The animals are close relatives.)

Those attributes will either warm the cockles of your heart or conjure up images of the Brookdale Institute in Killer Rats, a 2003 movie (see the trailer). Just kidding...

Actually, some of the dear people in my life are rats, and this is THEIR year. They should feel extra special having accomplished another full cycle of life. Famous rats you may know include: Alyssa Milano, Cameron Diaz, Charlotte Bronte, Daryl Hannah, Gwyneth Paltrow, Lauren Bacall, Margaret Mitchell, Margot Kidder, Mata Hari, Olivia Newton-John,  and Stevie Nicks.

In general, rats were born in: 1900, 1912, 1924, 1936, 1948, 1960, 1972, 1984, 1996, 2008.  Remember because the Lunar calendar shifts around, people with January or February birthdays may be on the cusp.

Rats are in a generally unspoken part of the Vietnamese culinary repertoire. They are eaten in Vietnam, as they are  in other parts of of Southeast Asia and India. They are a protein source. In fact, at BackwoodsBound.com, you'll find typical American recipes for squirrel and the raccoon.

In 2004 when the Bird Flu was scaring people from eating chicken, rats were fetching quite a pretty penny in Cambodia. People of my parents generation recall eating rat. Apparently, the country rats were tastier than city ones.

Enough about rat as food. I'm somewhat superstitious so I always look around for some forecast of the coming year. Here's a little fortune telling that's not so weird and hokey:

Your fortune in the Year of the Rat (Asiaone.com)

Hopefully, the economy and presidential elections won't be so grim!

Comments

[Von Griffing]

Hi Andrea,

Your post about rats is very timely. A couple days ago, I was looking out the window above the sink as I was washing dishes after dinner, lo and behold, a rat was staring back at me! Apparently, it had tore a whole in the window screen and decided to tuck itself between the mesh screen and the glass pane to shelter itself from an unusually cold night in Dallas. At first I freaked out because I am no fan of rodents. My immediate thought was to want to poison it, but my 9 year old daughter and I had watched Ratatouille (a great movie!) just recently and so my 2nd thought was, "Could this be Remy, the passionate foodie and chef from the movie?" . Anyhow, I decided to let Remy be. I just hope he doesn't get into my kitchen and wreck havoc!

I appreciate how your blog facilitates a dialog around the subjects that you post and serves as a sort of 'water cooler' gathering of foodies with a bent for Vietnamese cooking. Happy new year, rats rule!

[Andrea Nguyen]

Von, My pleasure. When I was in Vietnam a few years back, dining in one of the swankier joints in Hue, there were rats running back and forth on the wall ledge behind me. My husband kept looking up and I said, "Why are you looking at the top of my head? Is it a bad hair day?" He said, "Erm, no. I'm looking at the rats." We just kept our head down low and continued eating. We didn't get sick! Maybe that rat was the Hue Remy?

[Cathy]

Andrea - chúc mừng năm mới!

[Andrea Nguyen]

Squeak! The same to you, Kathy!

[White On Rice Couple]

Andrea, thanks for the list of famous rats. Not too shabby! Yes, us rats can possess many of the positive traits that you mentioned. With the exception of "producing with abandon", I can be quite "lusty"! Although, thats for him to only know! :)

[Andrea Nguyen]

Oh, we've got a live rat here... love it. Happy birthday this year!

[Binh]

I don't believe people in Vietnam eat city rats -- only field rats ("chuột đồng") as they are supposedly cleaner than city rats only eating rice and drinking rain water. I wouldn't know really -- I just recalled something I read from the old food writings by Vũ Bằng in "Món lạ miền Nam".

[White On Rice Couple]

Hello from a Rat and Cat here. We find your site fascinating (and that's coming from a Viet person!), so we've tagged you! Yeahhh! Now we get to get to find out 5 interesting facts about you!
Details at:
http://whiteonricecouple.com/blog

[Truc]

Hi Andrea.
Thank you for your Banh Bong Lan recipe. I did it yesterday, and it looked and tasted wonderful. Thank you.
I have one question: in the recipe, what is 11/2 tsp mean? How much is that?

Do you have Banh bo nuong recipe in your cook book? And where can I buy your book.
I have already tried many Banh bo nuong recipes but I always fail. It come out flat...

I want to email you , but I don't know your email address, so I have to post in here. HOpe you read my question.

Thanks.

Hi Truc,

Oh, 11/2 means 1 1/2 (1.5) -- it's a habit of mine from writing book manuscripts! Sorry for any confusion. Gosh, I love how banh bong lan spongecake bakes up and tastes. And it's so darn easy too!

I don't have a recipe for banh bo nuong in my book and it's on my to-do list. You can buy Into the Vietnamese Kitchen at regular bookstores or online at Amazon.com:

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1580086659/vietworldkitc-20

Take care,

Andrea

[Truc]

Thank you.