Snake - The perfect Easter Meal!

Mireille and Audrey both had flights back to Canada from Hanoi so we flew from Siem Reap to Hanoi and spent two days there before they had to leave.

Mireille and I met up with two of my friends, Hung and Julie, in Hanoi to have a meal at a SNAKE restaurant!!


First, they bring out the live cobra so that you can choice the one you like.



Then they take out the still beating heart,





pour fresh blood and bile from the gull bladder into separate glasses,


and then the remainder of the snake goes back into the kitchen to prepare 7 different dishes.



Hung, our Country Coordinator for CECI in Hanoi had eaten snake many times so he offered to be the dinner chairman and to eat the heart. The rest of us weren't quite brave enough for that!



Really it is more like drinking the heart, while it is still beating, it is dumped into a shot glass mixed with some alcohol, and down the hatch!



However, we all did drink the blood and the bile!!









After the initial oddities, the rest of the meal was quite normal and delicious!!

It included over 7 dishes made from snake; fried snake skin, snake spring rolls, snake fried rice, snake stir fry, crushed & friend snake bones, snake soup, and snake rolled in cabbage.





So that was our Easter dinner! Certainly one to remember!

The next day I returned to Da Nang and back to work. Audrey and Mireille still had another day in Hanoi before heading back to Canada. Was great having friends visit and being able to travel around with them. Mireille and Audrey - Anyone know where I can get a Tuk Tuk?? Love you guys:-)