Rat wine?

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(Naomi Darvell) said:

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This article has been linked at egullet all week:

news.com.au0,4057,8234213Open ↗^13762,00.html

This part puzzles me:

"A RESTAURANT in southern China's Guangdong province is doing a brisk business in rat dishes,
ignoring warnings to stop serving wildlife to prevent the spread of Severe Acute Respiratory
Syndrome.

The eatery in the city of Zhuhai sells more than 100 rat dishes a day, the state-run Information
Times reported yesterday. Some of the rats are caught on farms, while others are from the
mountains.

Southern Chinese believe rodents are safe to eat or turn into wine if caught wild in the
countryside."

How do you make wine out of rats?

Naomi D.

It'd probably be similar to this recipe:

(from the Klingon archives)

Bloodwine

Heat 18 quarts of blood in a large cauldron. When the blood is hot, put 1 quart of blackstrap
molasses into it. When it boils, skim it very well, and continue skimming it, as long as any scum
will rise. Let this boil one hour. Then set it to cool until it be blood-warm, and then put in a
spoonful of Ale yeast. When it is worked up, put it into a five gallon bottle with a vapor lock.
Allow to ferment for about six weeks, then bottle it up. Age to taste.

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Naomi Darvell said:

This article has been linked at egullet all week:

news.com.au0,4057,8234213Open ↗^13762,00.html

This part puzzles me:

Southern Chinese believe rodents are safe to eat or turn into wine if caught wild in the
countryside."

How do you make wine out of rats?

You put them in alcohol (the kind you drink, not the kind you clean your skin with) and you bottle
it. In Chinese, the same character is used for both mouse and rat, so there's a possibility of
confusion here. As I understand it, the kind of rodents they put in alcohol is very small--looks
more like mice than rats to me. Also, I think you're supposed to use very young or newborn mice
caught in the field for the purpose. You don't want to use those that feed on trash. I *think* it's
believed to offer some health benefits.