Although keeping Vietnamese pot belly pigs as pets has become popular over the last decade, a number of people have started to keep them as a food source as “backyard herding” is becoming increasingly popular with people keeping their own animals in their yard for food.
This has resulted in an increase in the number of people that we see reaching out and asking questions like can you eat pot belly pigs?
As we have noticed so many people asking about raising pot belly pigs to eat over the last year or so and the number of people reaching out about it increasing with each month that passes, we have decided to publish this dedicated article on the topic.
Our hope is that we will be able to help our readers not only raise their pot belly pigs but also help them keep them as tasty as possible as when raised correctly, pot belly pigs can be even tastier than regular pigs.
We do see a range of questions being asked each month about eating pot belly pigs so we have decided to add our table of contents below.
The table of contents will allow you to quickly and easily skip to specific sections of the article without having the need to skim the whole article. This should save you time and allow you to get the information that you require as quickly as possible.
Can You Eat Pot Belly Pigs?
You can eat pot belly pigs with some people preferring their meat to that of a normal pig.
Due to so many young westerners travelling to South East Asia and trying pot belly pig meat while on their travels, they are becoming an increasingly popular option in North America and Europe.
This coupled with the popularity of people keeping pot belly pigs for a year or two as a food source is leading to the rapid increase in the popularity of eating pot belly pigs.
Although the meat of a pot belly pig does taste slightly different to that of a regular western pig, its texture is almost identical.
In addition to that, the flavour of pot belly pigs tends to change slightly depending on the diet that the pig was fed with some pot belly pigs having a slightly sweeter taste than a regular western pig.
Personal opinion will definitely come into play but more and more people are starting to prefer the taste of a pot belly pig over a traditional pig too.
Some people also think that pot belly pigs go much better than regular western pigs for certain types of dishes, especially curry style dishes too.
Are Pot Belly Pigs Good To Eat?
Pot belly pigs tend to be at least on par with the taste of a traditional western pig but more and more people are starting to prefer the taste of a pot belly pig over that of a western pig.
On top of this, if you are looking to make a curry style dish then a pot belly pig can sometimes go better with the meal due to its slightly different taste.
Not only is eating pot belly pigs becoming increasingly popular but the spike in popularity has also led to some innovation in the number of dishes that you are able to use them in.
Although there is the core, traditional Vietnamise and other South East Asian dishes that pot belly pigs are popular in, new recipes including pot belly pig meat are being released each month.
Pot belly pig meat is also a popular option for diets such as the caveman diet and the ketogenic diet too due to its high fat and moderate protein content.
This coupled with the tastiness of the meat is securing it as a meat product that seems to be quickly cementing its place in western cuisine.
Are Pot Belly Pigs Edible?
Pot belly pigs are edible and although their initial popularity was based around keeping them as pets, people have started to work out just how good pot belly pigs taste resulting in a spike in their popularity as a food source too.
Pot belly pigs have a very similar nutritional and macronutrient profile to a normal western pig too making them an ideal substitute in some pork dishes with a more unique taste.
There are a wide range of places that you are able to purchase pot belly pig meat in North America and Europe now too with an increasingly popular number of dishes being widely available in restaurants.
This allows people to try pot belly pig meat in a meal much more easier than they could even five years back helping to add to the rapid growth of the meat.
Although there was some initial misinformation surrounding the safety of pot belly pig meat a number of years back, this has all been cleared up with there being a number of reputable farmers in the west who raise pot belly pigs to meet western food standards.
As we touched on earlier in the article, the taste of pot belly pig meat can change ever so slightly depending on what the pigs diet is based on offering a more unique flavour than a normal pig.
How Do You Eat A Pot Belly Pig?
There are a huge range of ways that you can eat pot belly pig meat with the traditional Asian style dishes still being the more popular options.
That said though, more and more people are starting to use a pot belly pig meat as a direct replacement for regular western pig meat as a one for one swap in their recipes really opening up what you are able to do with the meat.
As with most things when it comes to food, the options are only limited by your imagination and chefs are releasing more pot belly pig based recipes with each month that passes.
These range from curries, to roasts, to sandwich based meals ensuring that there is something to cover everyone’s food palette.
Due to pot belly pig meat having an optimal ratio of macronutrients of high fat, moderate protein, and minimal carbohydrates for a wide range of popular diets right now, pot belly pig meat is being included in a number of health food recipes too.
This really does show how versatile the meat is and make sure that there is a recipe available containing pot belly pig meat for all meat eaters preferences.
Conclusion
That brings our article going over if you eat pot belly pigs to an end. We hope that you have found our article helpful and that we have helped to broaden your horizons when it comes to eating pot belly pig meat. Although there is still a number of people who are against eating pot belly pigs due to them being considered cuter than normal western pigs, their popularity on the dinner table really is sky rocketing right now and we doubt that this will stop any time soon.
