One of the weirdest weekends that I have ever experienced was in Hanoi Vietnam. Hubby and I flew there from Malaysia and found, much to our delight, cheap beer and delicious food awaiting us. If fresh spring rolls and lip smacking pho' aren't enough to fulfil your thirst for exotic cuisine, don't worry - Vietnam has plenty to offer even the most callused food adventurer. We saw someone roasting a weasel on the side of the road, but, unfortunately did not get offered a taste. One night, we took a motorcycle trip out to a village that specialized in food and beverages made from snakes and other creepy crawlies. We selected the cobra that we wanted to eat. I'll admit that it was difficult...I know how to pick out a good avocado, but no one ever gave me the 4-11 on what characteristics a delicious snake displays and I wasn't about to squeeze or shake it! The snake experts lent us a hand and extracted a nice looking fellow from his cage. Moments later, he was being slit down the middle right before our very eyes - talk about fresh!
The professionals caught the blood and bile of the unfortunate serpent in shot glasses. Next, the heart was removed and placed in a glass and they asked who would like to swallow it. Knowing that hubby has a much less sensitive gag reflex than I do, I volunteered him and he passed the snake-heart swallowing test with flying colours! You would have thought that he eats snake organs for breakfast every day. We then adjourned to the actual restaurant where we proceeded to chug the aforementioned glasses of blood and bile and awaited our tempting feast.
It was delicious - cobra cooked multiple ways and they did a very noble job of using all of the parts. Maybe that is why they serve you the blood and bile first - it can only go up from there! Due in part to the fact that there was unlimited snake wine included with the meal, I can't really remember all of the courses. I know there was a kind of soup and some rice with snake skin on top and chunks of snake meat...and it all gets a little blurry after that.
It's not that I am a heavy drinker - that was actually the problem! I rarely drink a lot and snake wine is strong stuff! It is made by inserting the snake (or worm, or lizard, or crow, or other random disgusting creature) into strong liquor and letting it ferment for a LONG time. It will put some hair on your chest! Our guide told us that he could take us to try other tasty treats, such as monkey, cat, or dog, but we declined. Somehow it is easy to not feel as guilty chowing down on something that you cannot hug. My main policy is not to eat snuggly or endangered animals.
My dad was in the Vietnam War and so was the guy who took us out to this restaurant. It was very strange to think that they might have shot at each other in the jungle years ago. Hard to imagine this guy as a hard core Vietcong fighter, but who knows what he or I would be capable of under different circumstances. Thanks again to all of the vets who served during that era and also to those who are in active duty now.
This was just one of many wild times that we had in Hanoi. I'll write about the others sometime soon!
