1 post tagged “bear penis wine”
When I popped up from
behind Eric at Hanoi Backpacker's Hostel he'd already made friends at
the rooftop BBQ and began making arrangements for the night. A
courageous group of eleven travelers decided to try the local delicacy,
"cobra" and that's the way it began, full throttle.
There's a district in Hanoi for everything, clothing, artwork, spare parts and apparently snake. We arrived at the recommended restaurant Linh Linh which specialized in the slithery dish but was surprisingly empty. Our hosts hurried us in and began to show show off their collection of live and bottled preserved snakes and other culinary oddities.
Without hesitating this old man pulled out a writhing cobra and demonstrated that there was nothing to fear as it lunged and hissed relentlessly. Before we knew it they were cutting the cobras stomach open and extracting the blood, heart and bile, which would soon become parts of our meal.
The snake was prepared in front of us on a spit and then fried. Before we could indulge in the main dish, we had to prove ourselves by taking shots of the blood and bile (see photo).
The still beating heart was left for one lucky man. I never intended on stealing the spotlight, but when nobody was as eager to eat the snake heart as when we first set out to dine, someone had to step up.
It took me a moment to compose myself, then another to grab the pulsing heart with chopsticks. I dropped it several times before I got a good grip and threw the bite-size heart into my mouth. By request I gave it a few good chews before I washed it down with the snakes blood mixed with vodka.
I'll be honest, it tasted like nothing. The adrenaline numbed my mind and taste buds and I quivered before finally swallowing. The snake heart made everything else seem like cheesecake. The night didn't end until we'd accumulated a long list of exotic foods under our belts. The fried snake skin and "ribs", frog and dog meat, not to mention bear penis wine, were all child's play after the beating heart.
(I have the videos in my possession but the internet is too slow to upload them here. For now, they'll remain in the vaults.)
There's a district in Hanoi for everything, clothing, artwork, spare parts and apparently snake. We arrived at the recommended restaurant Linh Linh which specialized in the slithery dish but was surprisingly empty. Our hosts hurried us in and began to show show off their collection of live and bottled preserved snakes and other culinary oddities.
Without hesitating this old man pulled out a writhing cobra and demonstrated that there was nothing to fear as it lunged and hissed relentlessly. Before we knew it they were cutting the cobras stomach open and extracting the blood, heart and bile, which would soon become parts of our meal.
The snake was prepared in front of us on a spit and then fried. Before we could indulge in the main dish, we had to prove ourselves by taking shots of the blood and bile (see photo).
The still beating heart was left for one lucky man. I never intended on stealing the spotlight, but when nobody was as eager to eat the snake heart as when we first set out to dine, someone had to step up.
It took me a moment to compose myself, then another to grab the pulsing heart with chopsticks. I dropped it several times before I got a good grip and threw the bite-size heart into my mouth. By request I gave it a few good chews before I washed it down with the snakes blood mixed with vodka.
I'll be honest, it tasted like nothing. The adrenaline numbed my mind and taste buds and I quivered before finally swallowing. The snake heart made everything else seem like cheesecake. The night didn't end until we'd accumulated a long list of exotic foods under our belts. The fried snake skin and "ribs", frog and dog meat, not to mention bear penis wine, were all child's play after the beating heart.
(I have the videos in my possession but the internet is too slow to upload them here. For now, they'll remain in the vaults.)
