How to make your own snake soup this New Year Warning

Our features desk can tell you authoritatively that you may not find snake meat recipe in the average cookery book, so whether you’re buying fresh snake meat, or you prefer to skin it yourself, especially for dinner, here are guidelines to arrive at a sumptuous adventurous experience this New Year.

Make sure you obtain your snake from a trusted source or familiar environment. Avoid the risk of eating a snake that has eaten a poisoned rodent

If snake is obtained and you are not ready to cook just yet, make sure you refrigerate the carcass as soon as possible. It can also be frozen. The meat’s integrity remains intact, and the coloration of the skin is unaffected.

Recipe

Cut off the head, strip off the skin, and remove the guts.

Rinse the meat, and cut it into pieces with a sharp knife or poultry shears. Make the cuts between and at the same angle as the ribs to avoid cutting the ribs. If the ribs are severed, they may be difficult to remove from the meat after it is cooked.

Some people prefer to soak the ready-to-cook snake pieces in saltwater for a day or two to remove any remaining blood or gaminess from the meat.

Dredge the snake meat in pepper and local seasoner of sweet fragrance like cowry, or your herb of choice then mix with some extra black pepper). Shake off the excess.

5

Heat about 3/4″ (2cm) of canola, vegetable, or peanut oil in a heavy frying pan until quite hot.

Add the snake pieces one at a time to avoid dropping the temperature in the pan too quickly. Use tongs to keep your fingers away from the sizzling hot oil, watch for dangerous splatters, and use a screen if necessary to prevent a mess.

Turn the snake pieces just as the batter begins to turn golden. Note that by the time it starts to turn brown, the snake will be overcooked. There’s not much meat on the bones, and the muscles are thin and lean.

Drain and cool: remove the snake pieces before they’re quite done – they’ll continue to cook after removal from the pan – and set them on paper towels to drain and cool.

Serve your fried snake bits warm, and provide napkins – this is finger (licking food!) Accompany with most anything you would serve with fried fish or hot dog.

Note: Snake meat gets most of its flavor from the way it is spiced and prepared. Cooking methods used for chicken will produce snake that tastes like chicken!

Carrot-glazed snake with fresh herb

Gather and cut up vegetables of taste or those locally available.

Capture one boa (or snake of choice). Remove head, skin and organs. Dice meat. Size of it determines number you will need as well as number of guests and size of pot, drum (i.e. cooking container).

Amount of vegetables should equal amount of meat. Add water enough to just cover ingredients. Season to taste with local seasonings (i.e. salt, pepper, peppers, roots…). Bring to boil, allow to simmer off of flame for 5 to 10 minutes.

The thing with snake meats is that you should not serve it cold or warm: the hotter it comes the better because the heat brings out the core nutrients and taste of its meat.

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