There Are Rats in the A-hed!!!

For two days solid, James Hookway's WSJ story on the growing Vietnamese appetite for rat held firm on the WSJ.com's "most popular" list. That popularity was undoubtedly aided by Hookway's accompanying video, which feels more like a nice Daily Show bit than one of the Journal's typically wooden videos.

But if you're tempted to see the story as an ominous example of new Murdochian frivolity, think again. Jack Flack's all-time favorite A-hed, in which James McGregor gloriously detailed the workings of a rat restaurant in Guangzhou, appeared back in the ancient days of 1991. It's captured here in Ken Well's Floating Off the Page collection.

Both pieces deliver great humor by playing things perfectly straight, a la Stewart & Co.

Here's a little appetizer from McGregor's story to whet your appetite for rat copy.

That's right: Rat. Rat with Chestnut and Duck. Lemon Deep Fried Rat. Satayed Rat Slices with Vermicelli. In fact, the menu lists 30 different rat dishes, even including Liquored Rat Flambe, along with more mundane dishes such as Hot Pepper Silkworm, Raccoon With Winter Melon and Sliced Snake and Celery.

That's not enough to get you to chase the link, then taste this.

Also on the menu: a Nest of Snake and Rat, Vietnamese Style Rat Hot Pot, a Pair of Rats Wrapped in Lotus Leaves, Salted Rat with Southern Baby Peppers, Salted Cunning Rats, Fresh Lotus Seed Rat Stew, Seven-Color Rat Threads, Dark Green Unicorn Rat -- and, of course, Classic Steamed Rat.

Still not interested? Try to resist this fun fact.

Several customers take off their shirts halfway through the meal because eating rat, like dog, seems to raise the body temperature for some reason. That's why rat is considered a winter food.