Hanoi: 9 Courses of snake at Le Mat (snake village) Part 2 and Bat Trang

After "meeting the snakes", and a couple of shots of snake wine and tea, we were dropped off via motorbike back at the restaurant. The Missus and I decided to go ahead and have our "9 courses of snake". Even though it seemed somewhat touristy, you only live once, right?

We had also invited Hung, our Driver, and Huong(who couldn't make it)...we had noticed that most times Drivers and Guides and their customers would part ways during meal times...the Tourists usually having a hearty meals, and the Guides would just wait, hang out with other guides, or run errands.....we wanted to reverse that notion, and made it a point to eat with our drivers and guides as much as possible, what better way to learn about the place you're visiting!

Soon enough various garnishes, were brought out including the salt-chili-lime dip, some really pungent, but delicious nuoc mam(fish sauce), herbs so fresh and full of life...they almost shone in the sun.

Some rice crackers....

And pickled figs, a nice palate refresher......

More snake wine of course(not as good as what we had just had), rice wine with black bee(strange medicinal-honey flavor), and one bottle that looked like chop suey lizard, snake, and other "stuff".....pretty nasty stuff. Of course this was the one I was told would "make you strong", usually a good sign of something that would want to make you scrub your tongue with a brillo pad after consuming it......

And of course, you could not proceed without....

A glass of blood, which tasted of rice wine, but left a weird coating on my tongue, and bile which was a bit astringent, but tasted mostly of alcohol. Eat, Drink, & Be Merry has a nice post on "snake shots" in Taiwan.

There was one last piece of business....

When they brought the Cobra Heart out, it was still bouncing around a bit....the Missus decided that She wanted it, and I had no problem with that. She chugged it down with a shot two shots of snake wine.

First course - A Hot and Sour Soup.

There are several different types of sour......this was an example of what I can only call "dead fish sour". It was terrible; I started having doubts......

When the next course arrived, snake meat roasted in betel leaf.

A classic "La Lot" (rolled in betel leaf dish), much like what you'd order in most places with Beef. The snake meat was very mild (tastes like chicken anyone?), which amplified the sweetness of the betel leaf. Very nice.

Stir fried(Xao Lan) snake:

The snake was tough as heck in this dish...uninspired.

Snake egg rolls:

Yes, another classic preparation....these were fried perfectly, and in this case the slight chewiness of the snake meat was a plus. Other than that, not much flavor.....but hey it's fried!

Snake rice.

Another bland, "tastes like chicken" dish.

Deep Fried Snake Skin:

Topped with some dill, and dipped into nuoc mam....chicharron ain't got nothin' on this dish!

Roasted snake meat:

 

Not bad....texture like chewy, grilled eel...in fact the fish sauce in this dish made it even taste like a mild eel-chicken in flavor.

Minced snake bone:

This was excellent...went through 2 servings of Rice Crackers! Crunchy texture like roasted rice.....nicely flavored!

Chinese-style medicinal snake soup:

Tastes exactly like it's description...........medicinal soup....

Dessert, which I was so full and never tried......

All in all, a really nice experience, even though much of it does "taste like chicken".....the visit to Quoc Phuong Ecological Farm, and Mr Huong's hospitality made it worthwhile.

And at $10/US a person, I'd say it was, at least to us, a fun experience. After lunch we wanted to make sure and thank Mr Huong; so we walked back to the farm, and made sure to thank him in person. As we were leaving he gave us a signal to wait....grabbed on old vodka bottle, which he rinsed out, and proceeded to fill from his stash of snake wine. Never underestimate the power of "Thank You!"

The last stop on our little day trip was the ceramic village of Bat Trang.

Though Le Mat and Bat Trang are but a few kilometers out of Hanoi, it's amazing how different they are from Hanoi....so peaceful, relaxed, and quiet.

But the relaxed vibe disguises the really hard, tough work that goes on in Bat Trang.

Working the kiln of Bat Trang is heavy, hot, and hard work.

There are a number of shops along the road....

Selling all types of ceramic products

Some ultra mass produced, others looking a bit higher in quality....

 

As with the other handicraft villages, you kind of wander around, and if you find something that catches your eye, you wander over, and suddenly you're right in the middle of a production line.

We walked down an alley, and right into a workshop.

Right up close and personal...

I'll never look at that mass produced tea pot the same.....so much of what we use without a thought is someone's handwork.

Meanwhile, the Missus had found something that had caught Her attention. This woman, who we'll call "smiling eyes" (when we entered the workshop, you could tell she gave us the biggest smile, even though she had a mask on), was working at her station....she could crank out her pieces at an amazing rate.

Seeing that the Missus was interested, she gave Her a quick lesson...

Then it was the Missus's turn....amazing...from the audience to the production line in minutes! Only in Vietnam!

Everytime the Missus would do something that would potentially mean a few missing digits, Smiling Eyes would come quickly to the rescue while emitting a high pitch "oh-oh-oh".....

Using the "3 strikes rule", after the Missus ruined 3 pieces, She decided to leave this work to the pros!

Plus we were dog tired....

On the way back to our Hotel, Mr Hung stopped at Cafe Hao, and bought us some coffee. Nothing like Vietnamese coffee culture....a cup can last several minutes, or several hours depending on your mood.

His way of thanking us for lunch. This version was the best I had on our trip. It seems we had come full circle, the day started with a cup, and ended with a cup! Now I'd say that's a productive day!

Comments

[clayfu]

Tour guides/Bus Drivers in South East asia have it bad. In europe they eat what we eat, same as China and Japan.. but not in SEA.

On our tour of Thailand we had 9 course meals and they had fried rice. Since it was just my family and the tour guide we always had the tour guide come eat with us cause the restaurant always gave too much food!

[Stephen]

Hi Kirk,
Thanks for sharing your trip with us. Great pictures. I have to hand it to you and the missus, you sure do go for the exotic eats. More venturesome than I'd be for sure. Snake? Sparrows? Ummm....

[Wandering Chopsticks]

I came up on Bat Trang from the river so I walked through the narrow streets of the old village. Did you see the clumps of coal they left to dry on the walls? Pretty cool.

I didn't get to Le Mat. Didn't want to. Snakes creep me out. So what does snakeskin taste like?

[Wandering Chopsticks]

BTW, you did a good thing by feeding your guide. Most people don't think about that and some of the places tourists go to, the local person can't afford to go so that's something they have to take from their pay.

[Rachel]

wow thanks for that review. I think the banquet is not for the faint hearted! I would have probably been interested in trying 1 snake dish ... probably the la lot or the spring rolls. Great pictures! I guess its something you do once when you're a tourist :) It was very kind of you to feed your guides.

[kat]

though I've never travelled to Vietnam or other SE Asian places, never thought about feeding the guides, great tip!

[Chris]

This is going to be a difficult meal to re-create in the states. The Vietnamese markets here have a lot of stuff, but i have never seen whole snake. Thanks for the heads up on the snake wine. I have seen these bowls for sale before and thought they were made by machine. You are right, I will never view it the same. Reccomended reading: "the unknown craftsman".

[Kirk]

Hi clayfu - We were flabbergasted when watching tourists and guides be so buddy-buddy, then brushed off during lunch like the "hired-help".......

Hi Stephen - You know.....the snake thing is kinda touristy, but it was fun. Those sparrows were just plain delish! I'm glad you're enjoying the posts...thanks for the kind words.

Hi WC - We got a ton of photos in Bat Trang, including the charcoal on the walls, people recycling used clay, and off a husband and wife team making planters, that looked like back breaking work. I think I'll do a photo album on my sidebar. You learn so much about people and places by eating with them.....and for someone making $40-$50 dollars a month ($30 of which goes to rent), a $10 meal is indeed out of reach. The snake skin is light and crunchy...mild in flavor...chicharron without the greasiness....

Hi Rachel - I think you'd do well with 9 courses of snake....it does taste kinda like chicken.

Hi Kat - It gets kinda obvious when you figure out how much they make in a month.

Hi Chris - I've had snake before in the US....and it was terrible...I think you'd have some major liability issues with a market carrying live poisonous snakes! ;o)

[ed (from Yuma)]

Great post again. Really enjoyable.

Good idea to do the photo album with a link.

[Jeff C]

Kirk, glad you and your missus are back safe and sound. Wow, Hanoi Rocks! (I've been waiting sooo long to write that in a comment!) I'm going to take what you said about the tour guides to heart and try to incorporate that when we do the tour thing, too. Though most of the tours we've been on, the guides won't eat with us and we've asked them to sit down with us. Love the pottery pics. The snake stuff, I can do without but I hear its supposed to increase your Yang or is it Yin (whichever is the male component). So if your missus ate the snake heart then you and the missus probably had an amorous evening. Ha Ha . Take care

[Kathy]

oh my goodness, cobra heart?! and "still bouncing around a bit"...oh my, you are treading in dangerous fooding territory, heehhehe ^_^. am loving all the posts on your trip!

[nhbilly]

What a feast....the missuss is a brave woman to down the snake's heart. So what happen to the porcupine? ;-)

[Shellie]

Great ideas. Thanks for sharing your trip and all that food!

[Kirk]

Hi Ed - I think I'll do that when I get me act together....

Hi Jeffrey - LOL! You crack me up.... I think it's much easier when you hire private guides.....As for Yang or Yin....we'll leave that be. ;o)

Hi Kathy - Thanks....it was a great trip. And yep, that heart was still beating....you can see the little trail it made as it moved.

Hi Billy - We didn't need toothpicks! ;o)

Hi Shellie - Thanks.

[nhbilly]

LoL...

[mizducky]

Hot damn. Now that's going for the gusto, still-twitching cobra heart and all. And I'm tickled that it was the Missus who went for the heart.

And thank you again for all the working-folks photos. I'll be looking forward to seeing the full gallery of them. It's like you're doing a Studs Terkel of Vietnam, and it's beautiful.

The little roast birdie not only looked delicious, but made me think "Hey! Perfect portion size!" :-D

[elmomonster]

Uh huh! I knew it, cobra heart...and somehow I knew also that it'd be the Missus who'd be eating it! The snake bones and the snake skin looks amazing...your description makes it sound yummy.

[Kirk]

Hi mizducky - Yes, sparrows....they are perfectly portioned! In the end, we found all of the sights wonderful, but it is the people that stick in our mind.

Hi Elmo - Man, you're a regular Nostra-whats-his-name! Have we become so predictable? Snake Bones, skin, and the La Lot were by far the best dishes.