Battambang, Cambodia: As he tears off a leg of a charcoal-grilled rat at a roadside stall in western Cambodia, Yit Sarin hails the simple joy of rodent and rice washed down with beer.
###
“It’s delicious,” he says of the snack.
###
Barbecued field rats are not everybody’s idea of a tasty treat, but in Cambodia’s rural Battambang province they are popular as a quick – and cheap – snack, with small skewered ones going for $0.25 each while larger rodents can cost $1.25.
######
Rats were commonly eaten in the 1970s, under the ultra-Maoist Khmer Rouge, when frogs, tarantulas and other small creatures were considered fair game as a means to survive.
###
Now they are simply an inexpensive lunch for workers and farmers – though there is disagreement over what its meat tastes like.
######
Sarin tells AFP that rat is like “chicken or beef”, whereas others say it’s more like pork.
###
He is one of many customers and Cambodian tourists stopping at a stall outside of Battambang town, where rows of grilled field rats are displayed over burning coals and served with dipping sauces made from lime juice, black peppers or chillies.
###
Vendor Ma Lis says the snack has grown in popularity since she launched her stall more than a decade ago and sold just a few kilograms a day.
Click Here: Gws Giants Guernsey###
Today, she can net daily sales of around 20 kilograms, making brisk business from van-loads of travelling Cambodians and the occasional curious foreigner.
######
The holiday season also spells bad news for the field rodents – Ma Lis can sell up to 180 large rats a day on the Cambodian New Year or water festival.
###
Dismissing any health concerns one might have about eating her unconventional treat, Ma Lis says her rodents are caught from rice fields and are good for you.
###
“These rats are healthier than pork and chicken… they eat lotus roots and rice grains,” she says, as she flips the barbecued bodies on the grill.
###
Despite the snack’s enduring appeal, many people remain squeamish.
###
“They feel it is disgusting,” she says, smiling.
###