I have a somewhat on / somewhat off topic question.
I have been repeatedly told, but could not bring myself to believe, the “eating monkey brains while the monkeys are still alive” story. And I was told it again today by a wide-eyed believer who told me that they still do in on the mainland (for an exorbitant fee). In all the versions I was told, the monkey is alive and locked inside a special table that only has a holeat the top for the top part of his skull, and then they take the saw and … etc.
I also have a vague memory of reading one of Junichiro Tanizaki’s short stories where this took place but cannot recall or quote the title now.
I am 98.3% sure this is apocryphal but would like some links so I can direct my friend to them.
[quote=“lurkky”]I have a somewhat on / somewhat off topic question.
I have been repeatedly told, but could not bring myself to believe, the “eating monkey brains while the monkeys are still alive” story. And I was told it again today by a wide-eyed believer who told me that they still do in on the mainland (for an exorbitant fee). In all the versions I was told, the monkey is alive and locked inside a special table that only has a holeat the top for the top part of his skull, and then they take the saw and … etc.
I also have a vague memory of reading one of Junichiro Tanizaki’s short stories where this took place but cannot recall or quote the title now.
I am 98.3% sure this is apocryphal but would like some links so I can direct my friend to them.[/quote]
I know they used to serve it at the Asiaworld Hotel (when it first opened) back in 1983-84. There was a stink in the China Post because the hotel was advertising it as part of a special Mandarin banquet and charging over $1,000US per person. Locals were complaining not because of the monkey but because of the price. At that time, the government was still emphasizing frugality and puritan ideals. It the late 1980s early 1990s, you could get it at some of the restaurants up on Yang Ming Shan.
remember seeing this in the old video, “faces of death.” happy chinese family digging in, monkey screeching like all hell. always wondered if it could really be true too
It was being gone in some restaurants in Hong Kong in 1970. Price was around US$25.00, which was outrageously high for one dish, at the time. These places were not on the Michelin list.
Also monkey brains scrambled with eggs was/is common fare in Honduras, Guatemala, El Salvador and some other Central American and northern South American more rural eating houses. The monkey was killed first and usually served bar-b-q’ed with the brain dish.
Bar-b-q’ed monkey on a stick was a common road-side snack shack offering in there also. Kinda freaky to see, but a tasty snack with a cold beer.
Well, technically, once they’ve offed the skull cap, scooping into the brains isn’t really going to hurt.
By the way, in Indo they make a nice curry out of monkey brains - what’s that style of west Indo/Sumatran food . . its a place name . . .consists of picking scoops of room temperature curries? Padang? Loved it without knowing what it was when I was there as a lad, but somehow baulked at it when I returned years later armed with some ability to recognise anatomy.
I know they used to serve it at the Asiaworld Hotel (when it first opened) back in 1983-84.[/quote]
Geez, you’ve been here a while! So is it true what they say about some of the ‘ladies’ working in the zone? That they’ve been there since US military days?
I read about Old Bull Lee and his brains and eggs in On the Road, so I tried it and damn! but it’s good. Cow brains though, not monkey. I bet they still eat it here though – those fruit farmers down south are not gently chivvying marauding macaques off their orchards, I’ll bet.
[quote=“Huang Guang Chen”]Well, technically, once they’ve offed the skull cap, scooping into the brains isn’t really going to hurt.
By the way, in Indo they make a nice curry out of monkey brains - what’s that style of west Indo/Sumatran food . . its a place name . . .consists of picking scoops of room temperature curries? Padang? Loved it without knowing what it was when I was there as a lad, but somehow baulked at it when I returned years later armed with some ability to recognise anatomy.
HG[/quote]
Padang-Padang. Great fuckin’ scary ass wave in Bali, you need the brains of a monkey to surf it when the water is low.
—Back in Vietnam 1992 they told me monkey brain was to be found in Cho Long the China town in Saigon…er I mean…
Uncle Ho’s Paradise City.
Never confirmed. It’s like lost Japanese gold and The Chief once doing a double team with The Wilson sisters from
Heart when they lived here in Taiwan- all Asian myths.
Ooh! Another good Bali memory. Padang-Padang was my favourite surf break - I’m a goofy foot. I also liked the fact you could paddle out to the side of the break and avoid getting caught up on the way out to the surf.
But Padang is a style of food from Sumatra but popular all over Indo. Basically they dump a bunch of plates in front of you and you pay for whatever you eat. It’s all served at room temperature and is usually very spicey.
You can get cow brain tacos from the roach coaches (lunch truck that caters to the hispanic workers) in LA… I tried one a couple of years ago and it was not too bad…
Yeah…having moved here from southern Cali I should have included the cow brain offerings which the Mexican expats have added to the culinary scene in the USA. Tried them a few times to note the slightly different interpretations from differing regions of our southern neighbor. Some were tasty…some were not so good.
I seem to remember something about sheeps brain being a menu choice somewhere I once was…maybe some Mediterranean country.
I think various animal brains are used fairly regularly at both ends of the food spectrum – peasant fare and hoity toity “high class” specialty dishes.
Erh, cow brains? You really sure you want to be eating any bits from a bovine central nervous system? Texture’s a sort of bovine spongy form, one presumes.