Snake wine

A friend of mine went to teach English in China for several months.

This is his blog report on a snake wine factory he visited.

http://www.stdenny.com/yz5/yz5.html

Best regards,
Alex R.

When I first started reading this I thought it must have been posted on April 1, but it sounds hissingly serious. As for the wine your friend drank, I was sure it would be to help his viritily, or maybe that is what 'nourishing yin, invigorating Yang and holding youth' is all about.

If memory serves, "snake season" is October and November in Hong Kong. I've never actually seen it, but I'm told that at certain restaurants that specialize in this sort of thing, they'll bring a live snake to your table, kill it, then mix bile from the snake with wine. Like a lot of other very odd Chinese practices, it's supposed to increase your virility. "Hah, I've got snake bile! I don't need no stinkin' Viagra!"

I've had Habu Sake in Okinawa. Habu is the indiginous poisonous snake. I managed to choke it down. The worst part was the loose scales get caught between your teeth.

If memory serves, "snake season" is October and November in Hong Kong. I've never actually seen it, but I'm told that at certain restaurants that specialize in this sort of thing, they'll bring a live snake to your table, kill it, then mix bile from the snake with wine. Like a lot of other very odd Chinese practices, it's supposed to increase your virility. "Hah, I've got snake bile! I don't need no stinkin' Viagra!"

From memory, Anthony Bourdain did the snake bile thing on one of the episodes of 'The Cook's Tour'.

If memory serves, "snake season" is October and November in Hong Kong. I've never actually seen it, but I'm told that at certain restaurants that specialize in this sort of thing, they'll bring a live snake to your table, kill it, then mix bile from the snake with wine. Like a lot of other very odd Chinese practices, it's supposed to increase your virility. "Hah, I've got snake bile! I don't need no stinkin' Viagra!"

From memory, Anthony Bourdain did the snake bile thing on one of the episodes of 'The Cook's Tour'.

He's a caution, is Mr. Bourdain. "Kitchen Confidential" is still a favorite.