Last Updated on: 8th October 2023, 02:37 am
For many years I have heard tales of adventurous foodies drinking cobra blood and eating various snake dishes made from other parts of snake in a mysterious village just outside of Hanoi.
When Sarah and I planned our trip recent nine-day trip to Sapa, Halong Bay and Hanoi we also made plans for a slight detour to this place I have heard so much about. I have always been a believer in pushing boundaries and living outside of my comfort zones, but admittedly the thought of being a snake eater and eating a cobra did give me pause.
From Hanoi, it is an easy 20-minute cab ride to Le Mat, the “Snake Village.” From the tales that had been told I was expecting something gritty and maybe a little touristy, but what we found was a quiet, newish looking neighborhood in the suburbs, near the freeway not far from a popular SE Asian megastore chain.
There wasn’t another tourist about and almost no signage, so we just started wandering the streets looking for clues. There were a few places that displayed banners out front with hooded cobra images on them, but they all appeared to be closed.
I guess westerners wandering around town are looking for the same thing, so finally, someone helpfully pointed us down a small side street where we saw a maître de in a white chef’s coat, who guided us the correct way.
We were led into a leafy courtyard and found ourselves surrounded by all things snake. Snake heads in jars, shelves stocked with snake rice whiskey and cages filled with snakes: bamboo snakes and cobra. A handler opened the cobra cage and, using a four-foot-long pole with a shepherd’s crook on the end, lifted out an angry five-foot specimen for us to examine.
He grabbed it by the tail, and it was (of course) quite annoyed and began to thrash around so much the handler dropped him on the ground, and he started slithering toward me. I backed off and the handler pinned the cobra with the pole, but he continued to angrily thrash and strike about.
We just kind of stood there dumbfounded when the maître de asked if this is the snake I would like to eat. With a bit of hesitation, I swallowed hard and said yes.
See also:
- Cambodian Rice Noodle Soup with Blood Tofu
- Eating Chicatanas, or Flying Ants in Mexico
- Trying Betel Nut in Burma
The cobra was still pinned to the floor, and the handler grabbed him at the base of the head and quickly sliced its neck open with a sharp knife. The snake continued to whip around so much that both the handler and the maître de had to pick him off the tiles and carry him to the stainless steel table where they began dressing him.
On the table, there was a tall glass over which the handler held the snake and drained the blood inside. He then slit the serpent’s belly open with a sharp knife and with practiced hands removed the heart and the spleen and placed them on the table for us to see. This was too much for Sarah, and she walked away.
Even though I too didn’t want to watch, I stayed as the handler quickly began scaling the snake, much like you would a fish, and then placed the body, still wriggling, in a pot of boiling water.
Now I have a pretty strong stomach and being a carnivore, intellectually, I know where my animal protein comes from. I do however have to admit that watching the way that living creature started to become my lunch bothered me, and I was feeling a bit drained as we were led into the dining room to wait for our meal.
Almost a soon as we sat we were presented with two bottles of liquid — one yellow/one red — and a small white plate that held the still-beating heart of the cobra.
The red bottle contained a concoction of Vietnamese vodka and the snake’s blood; the yellow was bile mixed with vodka. I was also given a shot glass of straight vodka into which I was told to place the heart before I was to eat it — oyster shooter style. I picked the heart up with a pair of chopsticks and examined it closely.
Somehow the violence in the courtyard seemed far removed as I handled the disembodied organ. I watched it beat one more time and dropped it into the shot glass. I straightened up in my chair and slowly poured the pungent liquid into my mouth. I let the lump of heart settle on my tongue, and I could feel it pulse one last time before I swallowed.
After swallowing a still-beating heart, the vodka-infused blood and bile were relatively easy. I had been a little pre-conditioned by having had a few bowls of pig’s blood soup with the hill tribes in northern Laos, and honestly, this was a pretty easy step.
The blood had a little bit of a minerally iron flavor, and the bile tasted mostly like vodka with a bit of salt. Since these concoctions are supposed to make you more virile and give you energy I tried several shots. After a second shot of each — if I wasn’t exactly enjoying it — I certainly was beyond worrying about what it was.
Soon a parade of cobra-based dishes began to arrive. There was cobra soup, sautéed snake with onion and fragrant spice, fried cobra rib brittle with dry pancake (kind of like a papadam), crispily fried snakeskin and “fried snake made by fat pouring.”
My favorites were the fried cobra meat rolled in betel leaf, sautéed cobra liver with ginger and the snake spring rolls. It was all pretty tasty, and I think Sarah enjoyed these things as well. I can’t say I liked the snake gruel (boring) or the stewed snake with Chinese medicinal herbs (too boney), but overall everything as far as I can tell was well prepared, and it was certainly fresh.
After all of those dishes and a few more shots of infused vodka, I was feeling quite lightheaded and full. We paid our bill, and our waiter led us through the winding dining room to the exit. I had mostly forgotten the origins of our meal and was enjoying the afterglow of an enjoyable afternoon, but there was one thing that unnerved me a bit.
I can’t be sure, but I think I may have heard the snakes hiss quietly at me as we walked through the courtyard and I think I may have also felt a tiny heartbeat in my stomach as we exited the restaurant.
Jonathan
I was horrified after reading your story. The poor Cobra (one less in the world) Did you ever give a thought to that helpless creature before you decided to eat it and drink its blood. You should be ashamed of yourself. How can you go around eating all Gods beautiful creatures in the manner in which you chose. Did the poor bastard have a say in the matter. I guess not. Waiting for the day you decide to become a vegetarian. And don’t tell me that the cabbage screamed at you before you ate it. I think I’m going to throw up now. Love to hear all your travel stories, but not about your animal eating habits. Go on, give us a happy story next time.
Hi Graham!
Admittedly it was a pretty horrifying. The thing is, if you are a carnivore, which most of the world’s humans are, something similar happens with all of our meat. Denying it because it ins’t as in your face as eating this (farm raised) cobra was, doesn’t mean it doesn’t happen. I hope by writing pieces like this, as well as the “Meet Your Food” piece I referenced in the article, that people will be more cognizant next time they sit down for a lobster dinner or a juicy steak.
My previous post was the Vientiane Organic Market. 🙂
Hi Jonathan
Having been a vegetarian for over forty years, your article was a bit shocking, but my reply was more to say that we as humans need not eat all those once living animals. Needless to say, I once sat with a German chap at a restaurant in Siem Reap, Cambodia who ate snake and crocodile while I watched. Somehow it didn’t look that bad. I myself will never eat animal meat and I don’t miss it either. Don’t like the taste, but I can’t stop the rest from eating what they will. On a lighter note, I love following your adventures. Will keep in touch and maybe “meat” up with you someday. All the best
Thanks Grahame,
I don’t think I could ever go full vegetarian but I do have a lot of respect for those who do. I think we should all be cognizant of and be more mindful of what we eat. I try to have a few vegetarian days a week and eat lower on the food chain. I have cut way back on beef and lamb because it is so bad for the environment. I too hope we can meet up one of these days.
Horrifying. Don’t understand why you felt you had to do that. Would you go and eat dog and cat in Asia just because they do it there also and you want to push your “comfort zone”. All these animals feel pain and terror and suffering, whether it be a snake, a crocodile or a dog or a cow. It is hard to believe you felt this was a worthwhile thing to do. I haven’t eaten meat in 15 years and feel wonderful. We are destroying our environment with our food habits, with no thought to the other sentient beings with whom we share the planet.
Hi Rita,
I am glad you are so proud not to have eaten meat in 15 years. I have to admit that is not something I could do even though I am sure it has many benefits. While I do think it is commendable to eat lower on the food chain, we have to acknowledge, the very fact that we humans exist, has a huge impact on other sentient beings. I am sure you must agree that there is little difference, except in the level of awareness, between eating processed and shrink wrapped meat from the grocery store and something as visceral as eating a cobra. There have been studies done that indicate, no matter how smug it may make us feel, only consuming vegetable matter results in the death of many (if possibly not more) sentient beings than the consumption of meat. There are all kinds of ways to spin it and my guess is, as in most things, the truth lies somewhere in the middle. I believe in having a smaller footprint. I believe that consuming less is perhaps as important as what we consume. What I don’t believe is that selectively calling out anyone for causing what we cause ourselves accomplishes anything. As a human omnivore I will continue to eat alternate foods and be grateful to their source. As the article below shows, it isn’t as simple as some people make it out to be.
http://www.iflscience.com/plants-and-animals/ordering-vegetarian-meal-there-s-more-animal-blood-your-hands
I am watching Anthony Bourdain in Vietnam. I just saw him eat Conra heart and the rest in various meals. Abundants of snakes for consumption and done right in front of him. Very fresh
Hi Jonathan –
I recently stumbled across your blog as I was helping my dad brainstorm for his retirement. Looks like you two have great adventures — this story was the first I clicked on as a must-read. My s/o and I are in our 30s, and these are the sorts of experiences we seek abroad (although I don’t know if our stomachs are quite as strong as yours); stories like this are the best when you return from a trip. Thanks for the inspiration!
I would like to try all those foods.Just a new adventure.Where were you when you ate all that food.I do agree you shouldn’t eat to any of the population but 1 or 2 couldn’t hurt to bad.
Hi Ayden,
We ate at Nguyen Van Duc Snake Restaurant. Honestly, eating cobra is a bit disconcerting, especially the cobra heart, but the taste wasn’t bad. These days I try to lean more vegetarian, but I do like trying new things. These snakes are all farm-raised, so I don’t think the environmental impact would be more than any other type of meat.
Now this IS badass. Ive tried cobra hearts before myself. more than once actually. but im very weird so don’t be too surprised haha! Great stuff!