# Monkey Brains **URL:** \ **Category:** Cecil's Columns/Staff Reports\ **Created:** [March 8, 2001, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/monkey-brains/57253 "2001-03-08T19:32:26Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![TubaDiva](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tubadiva/32/507_2.png) [@TubaDiva](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TubaDiva)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2001, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/monkey-brains/57253/61 "2001-03-12T14:10:38Z")
You’ve been warned multiple times about your manners and chosen to disregard the good advice our moderators have to offer you. I have a permanent solution to your problem. Off with you. your humble TubaDiva Administrator ---
**Author:** ![warinner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8edcca/32.png) [@warinner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/warinner)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2001, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/monkey-brains/57253/62 "2001-03-12T22:50:27Z")
A point of pointless pedantry here: David and Barbara Mikkelson [aka the Snopes] borrowed their definition - and much else besides - of ‘snuff film’ from the [alt.folklore.urban FAQ](http://www.urbanlegends.com/afu.faq/): > [@](#): > > By definition, a snuff film is one in which the film is the _purpose_ of (rather than incidental to) the murder and with some intent of commercial distribution (i.e. if they ran out of film, the murder would be postponed until someone could run down to the 7-11 & get more). Andrew Warinner ---
**Author:** ![Irishman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b487fb/32.png) [@Irishman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Irishman)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2001, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/monkey-brains/57253/63 "2001-03-12T23:01:21Z")
From Cecil’s article: > [@](#): > > A teaspoon is used to scoop up the brain, which is immediately eaten. This has to be done before the monkey dies. Why exactly would that be? Gopinath Nagaraj, thanks for your informative post. ---
**Author:** ![galt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/35a633/32.png) [@galt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/galt)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2001, 12:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/monkey-brains/57253/64 "2001-03-13T00:54:00Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by TheBrain \* > See you all at the next Cecil stumble. Before then, some of you could use a lesson or two in debating, should open a dictionary, and you could all benefit in **reading Shakespeare.** [bolding mine] Haha, that’s my favorite part. Not the fact that a person who can’t follow basic logic or debate is flaming _other peoples’_ debating skills and intelligence, but that he thinks that he can make himself look smart by suggesting we read some Shakespeare. You go, **“Brain”**. ---
**Author:** ![saoirse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/5daacb/32.png) [@saoirse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/saoirse)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2001, 4:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/monkey-brains/57253/65 "2001-03-13T04:32:06Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Irishman \* > \*\*From Cecil’s article: > > > [@](#): > > > > A teaspoon is used to scoop up the brain, which is immediately eaten. This has to be done before the monkey dies. > > Why exactly would that be? > > \*\* The way the urban legend was related to me (I’m not saying it’s true or false, but I heard it as an urban legend) the point is to eat the brains while the monkey is still alive, in fact to eat them in such a way as to keep the monkey’s heart and lungs going for as long as possible. On a related note, why would a monkey be spinning as its brains are eaten? Are there pain receptors in the tissues of the brain? ---
**Author:** ![ArmyRetired](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a4c791/32.png) [@ArmyRetired](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ArmyRetired)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2001, 5:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/monkey-brains/57253/66 "2001-03-13T05:53:55Z")
In my first tour in Vietnam in late '65, my commander, Lt Col Dick Rusk, an Army aviator, was on his second tour there. He was there before the buildup (I think about 62 or 63) and flew military advisers all over the country. He related this story to several of us. One day he flew two or three high ranking advisers up into the Montgnard (mountain) country out from Pleiku and weather caught them before they could leave. They had to spend the night. The Vietnamese hosts put on a feast for their American guests which included warm rice wine, 1000 year old eggs (not literally), and monkey brains among other things. The senior advisor on this trip told them that they would have to eat what was offered or the village elders would be deeply insulted. Dick said if it hadn’t been for the warm rice wine, that he could never have eaten the monkey brains which were cooked in boiling water. I do remember that he said that each guest had to pick out the monkey of his choice. I don’t recall for sure but I think they cut off the top of the head and scooped out the grey matter in front of the diners. Being raised in a very small piedmont South Carolina town in the 1930s with farms all around, hog brains and eggs were considered mighty good eating by many during hog killing time. Personally, I prefered (then & now) bacon and scrambled eggs though I have eaten brains and eggs. ---
**Author:** ![DaveoRad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bcef8e/32.png) [@DaveoRad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DaveoRad)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2001, 6:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/monkey-brains/57253/67 "2001-03-13T06:18:30Z")
A friend of mine who spent some time in Taiwan in the early 1980s reported that certain people would follow the monkey-brain-eating procedure as described in Cecil’s article, scooping out the brains while the monkey was alive. You may ask, “How could they tell the monkey was still alive?” The monkey was suspended in such a way that its feet were just above a drum. As the diners scooped out the trapped monkey’s brain, its foot would involuntarily strike the drum. The object was to finish the brain before the monkey’s feet stopped striking the drum. ---
**Author:** ![Irishman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b487fb/32.png) [@Irishman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Irishman)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2001, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/monkey-brains/57253/68 "2001-03-13T16:36:09Z")
Okay, a couple more people have said the object is to eat the brains while the monkey is alive. But so far, nobody has answered my question and said _why_. What, does the brain go bad in the two seconds after death? The electrochemicals get a sour taste? The thrill factor of eating and watching it kick? saoirse, why the monkey is spinning… according to the description of FoD, only the monkey’s head is pinned at the neck, and the body remains unrestrained. The holder seems loose around the neck, just tight enough to trap the head without squeezing and thus suffocating. So the monkey is spinning because he is supposed to be trying to free himself and scrambling around jerking his head this way and that. ---
**Author:** ![helpermonkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/bcef8e/32.png) [@helpermonkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/helpermonkey)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2001, 11:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/monkey-brains/57253/69 "2001-03-14T11:16:58Z")
My mom didn’t eat monkey brains once…I know what you’re thinking…your mom didn’t eat 'em either! My my grandfather was a diplomat in South America, as such my mom had to go to the occasional banquet. At one of the more memorable ones, (held somewhere in the rain forests) she was offered a choice: guinea pig or monkey brains. She chose the guinea pig…but she didn’t eat that either, she dumped it into some foliage. By the way, she didn’t see any torturing going on for ‘fresh brains,’ just plates of brain. So it’s not just in Asia, folks. ---
**Author:** ![DaveoRad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bcef8e/32.png) [@DaveoRad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DaveoRad)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2001, 6:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/monkey-brains/57253/70 "2001-03-20T06:52:43Z")
I got the impression that the reason for finishing the brains while the monkey was still alive was for the sport of it. It was a competition of sorts. As they say in Taiwanese: “O bei gonk!” (“Overwhelmed!”) ---
**Author:** ![lokiloks](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ed8c4c/32.png) [@lokiloks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lokiloks)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2001, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/monkey-brains/57253/71 "2001-03-20T19:15:04Z")
Please direct your browsers to the following links: [http://www.iohk.com/UserPages/kcchan/monkey.htm](http://www.iohk.com/UserPages/kcchan/monkey.htm) [http://www.iohk.com/UserPages/kcchan/MainPhoto.gif](http://www.iohk.com/UserPages/kcchan/MainPhoto.gif) That should be sufficient to put a couple of nails in the “is there monkey brain eating” question. Robert ---
**Author:** ![usman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/b487fb/32.png) [@usman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/usman)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2001, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/monkey-brains/57253/72 "2001-03-23T23:04:32Z")
i don’t really know about the FOD thing, but i have heard the monkey brains story before from quite a few people (who have travelled a lot in the east and tried much of the exotic food). basic technique involves immobilization of the monkey, then a quick scalping, and then consumption of the brains while still fresh. apparently they weren’t too worried about diseases or such. aside from monkey brains, in my country (and its neighbours) it’s commom practice to eat the (cooked) brains of cows, goats, lambs, etc., in gravy. it’s considered a delicacy and widely enjoyed. i s’pose it would be gross to say it tastes just like chicken (it doesn’t), but it’s not that bad, and u develop a taste for it. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Australian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/48db29/32.png) [@The\_Australian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Australian)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2001, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/monkey-brains/57253/73 "2001-03-24T23:11:58Z")
I am very glad to hear that Gopinath in Malaysia has squashed this rumour about the eating of monkey brains. I had heard this story in relation to rich people in Hong Kong. At the time I thought it reflected badly on the Chinese, and I think that the intention behind the story is quite racist. So, good news, there is no Chinese custom of eating the brains of monkeys while they are alive. However, I recently read a first person account of a Japanese custom of eating fish while still alive. An Australian was visiting a Japanese restaurant and was offered this as a dish. The fish was still squirming on the plate. ---
**Author:** ![Mark\_Stevens](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9d8465/32.png) [@Mark\_Stevens](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mark_Stevens)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2001, 8:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/monkey-brains/57253/74 "2001-03-25T08:42:36Z")
I am a long term resident in Taiwan, Hong Kong and China. I first went to Taiwan right after FOD came out, and being 21 and ready to kick ass in the first foreign country I had ever visited, was on a mission to find the live monkey brain thing. I also spoke pretty good Chinese. I couldn’t find the monkey brain restaurants in Taiwan, perhaps they exist but I tried really hard. I was told numerous times that said monkey brain restaurants existed in HK. In 1983 I first visited HK and while I don’t speak Cantonese, could not locate said restaurants. Locals said they “don’t eat the live monkey brains anymore…” The practice was something that “happened in the past.” 1985-1999 I travelled extensively in South West China, and even wrote a guidebook on the region. If any region of China was going to have live monkey brain eating it was there. At that time, I was also a pretty serious vegetarian and looked for the restaurants so I could expose the “barbaric practice.” Never did find that live monkey brain restaurant. Did see a baby bear chained up like a dog with Moma bear’s four paws sans Moma for sale next to him, but no live monkey brains. Again, I can’t rule it out 100%, but I tried pretty hard for a long time to find a monkey brain restaurant. I still ask people occaisionally and I still live in China. My Shanghaiese relatives by marriage claim you have to go to the Guangzhou countryside to find these restaurants. I know that cooked monkey brain is served in places but I seriously doubt that you can find the live monkey brain on the menu anywhere in China these days. By the way, DaveORad, if the tones are correct and the romanization is the same, “O Bei Gonk” means “black-white talk” or Taiwantese slang for “nonsense.” Maybe your buddy was having you on. Finally, I don’t suppose anyone has actually thought how the monkey would react to getting the head lopped open and brains scooped out. Seems to me evacuation of the bowels would occur – might be enough to put you off your feed… ---
**Author:** ![DaveoRad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bcef8e/32.png) [@DaveoRad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DaveoRad)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2001, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/monkey-brains/57253/75 "2001-03-25T21:19:30Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Mark Stevens \* > **By the way, DaveORad, if the tones are correct and the romanization is the same, “O Bei Gonk” means “black-white talk” or Taiwantese slang for “nonsense.” Maybe your buddy was having you on.** Thanks for the clarification. “Overwhelmed” was the meaning I was given. My knowledge of Taiwanese is a little less than my knowledge of Venusian (i.e. practically nil). The “O bei gonk” conversation, though, was completely separate from any talk of monkey brains, so “nonsense” wasn’t being applied to the brain feast. Whatever. My mouth still doesn’t water, whether it’s real or not. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/monkey-brains/57253.md?page=3)