A Skinky Feast
Hello Everyone,
Well, I’m still here in Hanoi. There hasn’t been much to report so I haven’t written. Things have been pretty much the same here. Grey skies overhead. Noise and traffic in the streets. Teaching schedule has been light so there has been time to go to the gym. I’ve lost a little weight and toned up a bit. Still have a ways to go. It seems harder and harder to lose that roll around the middle. Anyone else noticed that problem?
But something did happen that I want to share with you. One of my corporate classes invited me to dinner last week. They took me by car to a village about 5 kilometers from Hanoi. Some of the students went by motorbike, the major means of transportation in Hanoi. Actually, they had taken me there before but we had not had the specialty of the village. This time we did. (No, not dog meat. That was another place). The specialty of this village is snake. Yeah, that slithery reptile that lurks in the bushes.
The restaurant is in a beautiful old house, very ornate with lots of carved and polished wood. A beautiful location. The entry foyer is lined with large bottles, probably two feet high, that are filled with snakes preserved in an alcoholic mixture. This is snake wine and is a delicacy in the area. They told me that the snakes are placed in the alcoholic concoction and allowed to mature for at least three months before being served. Don’t know how many snakes are in each bottle but there are many and usually they are topped with a cobra, erect and neck expanded. Makes for a warm greeting in a restaurant.
The students had made all the arrangements and we were shown to our table in a private room. The menu had been predetermined so the food began to come out as soon as we sat down. The usual first round is rice cake, round and about the size of a tortilla. Crispy and tasteless. I prefer cardboard.
Then the entree was presented. No, not served on a plate, brought to the table in a bag. Two men came to the end of our table, one carrying a cloth bag that was wriggling. The man with the bag opened it, looked inside, and plunged his hand within. He stood there with his hand in the bag for several seconds as he looked around. Then he pulled out a snake that he was holding just behind the head. The other man grabbed the snake by the tail and they held it up for us to see. What I couldn’t understand and never got an answer for was why he wasn’t bitten by the snake when he put his hand in the bag. He didn’t seem be concerned when he put his hand in the bag. Nevertheless, he seemed to be unharmed. Lucky guy because the snake was a Horse Cobra. Don’t know what that is but I assume it is poisonous. I wouldn’t put my hand in that bag.
Ok, so they have the snake held up at the end of the table. The man at the head then took a knife and made an incision about four inches long in the body of the snake. They drained blood into a cup and then cut the heart out of the snake. The heart was placed into a shot glass of rice wine (the Vietnamese version of firewater. Tastes like vodka). It’s a great honor to eat the heart of the snake so it is always presented to the guest of honor. And who was the guest of honor? Lucky me. Now the heart of a snake is only about as big as the end of your little finger from the last knuckle to the tip. It sits there in the rice wine and your can see little waves of pink spreading out in the wine. The told me it is very lucky if you eat the heart while it is still beating. Well, I don’t think I made it but I didn’t hesitate and drank it down.
Actually, there was nothing to it. There was not taste except for the alcohol. It was like a small oyster in a drink. No chewing, just swallowing, no aftertaste. I was awarded with a round of applause. (I knew it was coming so it wasn’t a surprise when they placed the heart in front of me). Then everyone at the table was presented with a shot glass of rice wine to which had been added some of the snake blood making it a red drink. We all toasted and drank it down. They told me that the snake heart makes you virile. There was much joking and laughter.
Next, everyone got a small bowl of soup. Don’t know what it was but it was very thick and gooey and they told me it was best drunk when it was hot. I think if it cooled off, it would gel. Very little taste. Nothing you would order from the menu.
Then we began to eat the snake. Actually, there were seven courses of snake, each cooked in a different manner. The first was a bowl of dark brown crispy dried stuff that looked like tiny pieces of bacon bits. When I asked, “What is this?”, I was told, “It’s the bone of the snake.” Evidently, they take the snake skeleton, grind it up and somehow cook it. We used the rice cake as a spoon to scoop it up. Neither had any taste.
Next came fried snake, little pieces of meat about the size of a pencil and an inch long. And I’m here to tell you, it was delicious! Really. As tasty as beef or chicken with consistency about mid-way between. It was really good.
Then grilled snake. Just as good.
Snake meat wrapped in a leaf.
Snake spring rolls.
Everything was really delicious. No joke. And it was a lot easier to get down than dog meat. Somehow I didn’t have an affinity for the snake that I had had for the dog. I’ve never named a snake or kept one as a pet.
The next course was a bit different. The meat was all eaten so we ate the skin. Evidently, they place the snake skin on the grill and dry it out, break it up into pieces and put it on a plate. It was thick and crispy and you could see the scales on the skin. Think pork rind. Again, no taste was detectable.
The last snake course was a plate of rice with green beans mixed in and soaked in oil from cooking the snake that tasted like and had the consistency of grits. They told me that it was lucky to have rice and green beans on that particular day. They Vietnamese have lots of “lucky” days on the lunar calendar and they act accordingly. My land lord wanted me to sign the lease on a particular day because it was a “lucky” day.
The dinner was topped off with two different soups served consecutively. One was Chinese herbs. Don’t know what the other was.
Then slices of watermelon and finally tea.
Now, don’t forget that throughout the meal they kept pouring shots and toasting. Rice wine, snake wine with blood, honey wine, herbal wine. All tasted like vodka. Nothing to taste and savor. Just throw it down. Amazingly, I felt little effect of all the drinking.
Let me tell you, if you have the chance to eat snake, don’t hesitate. I think it was the best meal I have had in Vietnam. You don’t have to watch them kill the snake. They will do it in the kitchen if you prefer. And no one will force you to eat the heart or drink the blood. But the meat is really tasty and worth the experience.
Ok, to another subject. My last teaching day at Language Link is May 18th. I leave the house on the 23rd. But I don’t know exactly where I am going. Want to travel to Cambodia, Singapore and Malaysia. Then head to China. Trying to find a job there for three or four months beginning in July. No luck so far. Will keep you posted.
This weekend, six of us have rented a van, a driver and a guide to take us into northwest Vietnam, one of the most remote areas in the country. This will necessitate another letter so be ready.
Hope everyone is well and happy.
Love to all
Tom
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