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So I live in the San Francisco Bay Area where you can find authentic Chinese restaurants, not the Made-For-White-Boys Chinese restaurants you find in much of the rest of the US. As such, at the better ones you can get quite a wide variety of offal. Today I had duck tongue, tripe and chicken feet. Do you think that given these are not organic that some of the offal, such as kidney (which I could have had today), would be over-the-top with toxins?

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 I don't know - I'm still trying to figure out how much duck tongue you'd have to have to make a decent meal... – JansSushiBar Apr 9 2011 at 22:22
I will tell you that is the most difficult thing for me to eat. They do nothing to disguise that it is what it is. It looks just like a duck tongue and I have to distract myself with other thoughts in order to be able to eat it. – Thomas Seay Apr 9 2011 at 23:11
JansSushiBar: Duck tongue is an appetizer, and is usally served with a few other small dishes, before the main courses. No need to be hungry... – Paola Apr 10 2011 at 4:05
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 From a fellow Bay Area resident, this phrase "not the Made-For-White-Boys," makes you sound like a douchebag. – Geoff Apr 11 2011 at 7:44
Why, Geoff? There are a lot of Chinese restaurants that cater to a non-Chinese diners, even in the Bay Area. From my experience, the great majority of Chinese restaurants in other parts of the country are that way. That's what I refer to. Unlike "douchebag", my "not-made-for-whiteboys" was not intended to be pejorative. – Thomas Seay Apr 11 2011 at 16:23
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6 Answers

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The Persistant Organic Pollutants (POPs) which you are concerned about are stored in the animal's fat tissues, making very lean organ meats like liver, kidney etc a safer bet than conventional muscle meats.

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I recently ate Kung Pao Kidney in a Chinese restaurant in Chicago's Chinatown. It was delicious.

I didn't worry about oil or sugar contents because:
(a) I don't eat offal in Chinatown regularly;
(b) I'm pretty sure non-organic kidneys are fine (I consumed fish oil pills afterward, just like I do every time I eat conventional meat); and
(c) at least some of the bad stuff was counterbalanced by the nutrient gains from eating so much kidney.

It doesn't really matter, but I'll note that almost all of the patrons were Chinese (or at least Asian), and I don't remember any of them being obese.

Lastly, if I keep my diet too restricted my gut becomes overly sensitive to impurities, which is a state that I don't prefer. About once a week I choose to put diversity over purity when faced with a tough decision (like kidney cooked in unknown oils).

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 Occasional "diversity over purity" is a really good idea. – Thomas Seay Apr 11 2011 at 16:24
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They put sugar on everything. I can't find anything to eat in a Chinese restaurant.

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They fry everything in soybean oil too. Bleh. – mari Apr 10 2011 at 12:02
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 I think they put sugar on everything in those "faux" Chinese restaurants. What you have to worry about in authentic Chinese restaurants is MSG. – Thomas Seay Apr 10 2011 at 17:19
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If you have no problems eating meat from conventionally raised animals, then I don't think you should worry about the type of cut.

Personally, when I eat Chinese I'm more concerned about the oils used (and reused) to cook, and additives like MSG. BTW, if you can find them where you live, try pig or duck intestines: heavenly...

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Do tongue and feet really count as offal? Don't get me wrong, they're delicious, they're just not organs.

As for how toxin riddled they are, I'd look around and see how healthy looking all the old Chinese folks are at the restaurant. If their seniors aren't morbidly obese and sickly looking and fairly mobile, eh, you're probably good.

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Lol. Chinese people don't LIVE in the restaurant and only eat there and no where else. Silly American. – Joyce L. Apr 10 2011 at 0:41
Even if that were true,surely there would be some sort of self-selection bias in effect, as the average infirm and morbidly obese senior citizen is unlikely to be out patronising restaurants. – Simibee Apr 10 2011 at 0:54
I always see lots of infirm, morbidly obese seniors at restaurants. That is generally how they get infirm and morbidly obese. – RG73 Apr 10 2011 at 7:38
I guess it also depends on the prevailing restaurant culture; is dining out considered something everyday or a special event? – Simibee Apr 10 2011 at 14:30
I don't really think that's a good way to judge a restaurant :). I've seen lots of fat butchers, that doesn't make me hesitate at all when I indulge in yet another juicy steak. Also : everything that isn't muscle meat is offal, I believe. Though I agree it's not really fair to call tongue or heart offal. – Korion Dec 8 2011 at 18:27
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I live in China and although it's easy to eat Paleo here when I'm cooking at home it can be very difficult to eat out due to the reliance on soy bean oil and a lot of added sugar. If you want to practice your mandarin you can request that your food be cooked in lard:

"Qing ni bu yao yong dou you. Yong zhu you. xie xie."

"Please don't use soy bean oil. Use lard. Thank you."

This might also be helpful:

"Wo dui xiao mai guo min" - "I'm allergic to gluten."

ji xin - chicken heart (These are awesome if you can find a Chinese restaurant that does bbq!)

ji gan - chicken liver

Of course if you haven't tried it yet, find a restaurant that does Beijing duck. The skin of the bird is crisp and absolutely to die for - in Chinese it's "Bei jing kao ya"

It's actually really unfortunate that the Chinese are not cooking like they did traditionally by using lard and other animal fats. Western dietary advice and the industrialized food supply has made it to China. (Fat people will follow!)

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