Dim Sum at Jade Dynasty found us ordering the usual assortment of items; sui mai, har gaw, taro cake, etc. until someone noticed the sign on the wall advertising snake soup. I don’t think there was any doubt in anyone’s mind that we were going to order it, but I for one was wishing it wasn’t 11 in the morning.
It came dressed in ginger and garlic and onion, beautifully decorated with chrysanthemum petals but with all the spices in the soup, it could have been anything. In this case, snake tastes like chicken if the chicken is stewed in ginger and garlic.
The rest of the dim sum was passable, but the xiaolongbao were a bit limp which is what I judge everything by so I likely won’t be back in a hurry.
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Jade Dynasty
137 Pender Street, Vancouver
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I love snake soup but it’s one of the those things for which not all the proper ingredients are available in Vancouver. So I seldom order it here, but if I really really want to get my fix, I go to Victoria Chinese Restaurant (Burrard and Melville). But, it doesn’t look like you are pining for a re-taste, or are you? (8-P
I’d actually love to try a “real” taste. Is it soup at Victoria Chinese restaurant or another dish you’d recommend?
thanks!
Most reptiles and amphibians DO taste like chicken. If you want to know, snakes taste like chicken with a fish-like meaty texture to them.
There’s a cookbook dedicated to it: http://www.herplit.com/Culinary/Culinary.html
I believe the author conceded there’s no real point in using actual reptiles or amphibians in his cookbook because you can substitute them with chicken.
In Asian culture, the main point of eating it is that it’s supposed to be an aphrodisiac. I was once in south Taiwan at a betel nut plantation and one of the dudes there cooked up a snake he had caught on the property. We spiced it up with a wine made from fermented bees, and it was absolutely delicious! I don’t know if I felt much of the aphrodisiac effect, though. My stomach may have been a bit confused with all the snake, bees, beer, and betel nut.
oh very cool! that sounds a lot better than my dish.