Adventurous Eating in China

I really wish I had taken more photos and kept a better record of our culinary journey in China (7-06). I did, however, take some photos and notes which I am more than happy to share with you now. We will be returning to China this summer (07), and you can bet I will be documenting everything then! Our adventure began when Mason, my husband, mentioned to our guide that he had seen something on TV about drinking snake venom. Bob, the guide, knew of a place where they served snake venom and offered to take us. I was too afraid, at that time, to try the snake venom (which was served in a glass with the snake's bile and I believe the gall bladder, though I can double check that as I am not positive) but Mason and Bob (pictured below) took part in it. We decided to order some snake from the menu to go along with the drinks, and I did try this. There were two types of snake served, one large and one small type (both pictured). The larger snake tasted much better, as the smaller one was mainly bones and hard to eat. Seeing how we were open to trying these foods, our guides decided to order some more things for us to sample. Soon we were introduced to chicken feet, glazed duck tongues, goat meat (which we had already sampled back in the states) and some other dishes that I have now forgotten and am kicking myself for. At first I was too squeamish to try anything, but Mason was eating everything they brought out. At that time I decided, I was in China and I was going to act like it! I summoned all of my courage and tried the foods in front of me. I didn't care much for the chicken feet, but I realized later I was eating them wrong. I was biting on the toes, and you are supposed to pull the toes apart and chew the flavor out of it, not eat the feet. The duck tongues were very flavorful, but had a bone in the center which I was not expecting. Our guides were delighted we were such fun to dine with, and we made plans to go again the next day to try other new things. Snake Venom Large Snakes Small Snakes