Snake charmers

Hong Kong

In winter, there is nothing like a bowl of snake soup to warm up the body. Donna Mah explains why this unusual delicacy is good for you.

Growing up in a Chinese family on the prairies of Canada, I was often told by my mother that we should consume "warming" foods during the colder months. For those not familiar with Saskatchewan, it is chilly for a significant portion of the year - so warming foods were talked about a lot.

Of all the "warming" foods we ate as children, we were never served snake soup. My mother told us all about the health benefits of consuming snake - helps prevent colds, rejuvenates the body and maintains general good health. But it was not until I moved to Hong Kong that I got a chance to sample it myself.

On my most recent quest for a steaming hot bowl of snake soup, I paid a visit to She Wong Wing on Tai Yuen Street in Wanchai. This soup was not hearty and chunky like the snake "soups" I had eaten previously, but it was delicious. It was a cool evening, not really cold, but the hot soup hit the spot and made me feel nice and warm.

This tiny shop has an upper floor, but we were ushered to seats on the ground floor where rows of wooden stools and counters faced the wall. Most people had the snake soup made with five types of snake, chicken, pork, slivers of ginger, dried citrus peel, dried shiitake mushrooms, and thinly sliced black fungus.

One of the best things about eating snake soup is that you get to add all the condiments. It just makes me happy to sprinkle on super-thin slivers of lime leaf, chrysanthemum petals, crispy fritter chips and a bit of white pepper. The chrysanthemum petals add a bit of sweetness, the lime leaves give off a citrus fragrance and the crispy chips add crunch.

Most people say snake meat reminds them of chicken. Well, yes, the soup does taste a bit like chicken soup, but there is real chicken in the mix. Snake meat is not as soft as chicken and actually reminds me more of frog meat.

There used to be many snake shops in Hong Kong, but they are much harder to find these days. In Causeway Bay, the snake shop on Percival Street was packed full of customers during my visit. These shops will usually serve other dishes such as glutinous rice with salted meats, barbecued meats with rice, and cured pork or liver sausages with rice.

At She Wong Hip on Apliu Street in Sham Shui Po and She Wong Yuen on Shanghai Street in Mongkok, they serve more than 400 bowls of snake soup on a cold day. Now that's a lot of soup, and even more snake.