Chau Ka-ling holds a snake. A living snake. A living, slithering . . . delicious snake. 

Ms. Chau is one of the last snake soup sellers in Hong Kong. She saves three live snakes for display in wooden drawers in her restaurant. Once, more serpents lived in these drawers as they awaited their turns in the pot. 

Snake soup is a specialty in southern Chinese cooking. It keeps people warm in winter. But this old tradition is slithering away. Ms. Chau’s dad taught her to catch and kill serpents and make soup. But now her restaurant uses frozen snake meat from Southeast Asia.

During the winter, Ms. Chau can sell up to 800 bowls of snake soup each day. That number drops to 100 or fewer in the summer. Soup is less popular on warmer days.

Snake meat is high in protein and low in fat. It has a texture like chicken. Would you try it?

Snake Soup in Seven Steps

Got your apron on? Follow Ms. Chau’s directions for snake soup!

1. Defrost your dead, frozen snake.

2. Boil the meat for at least two hours. This will make it tender.

3. Allow the snake to cool, and then take out the bones using a sharpened chopstick. Tear it into thin pieces by hand. 

4. Simmer snake bones with chicken and pork bones for at least six hours. This will make  a base for the soup.

5. Strain out the bones and use the broth for the next step.

6.  Stew the broth with snake meat, shredded chicken, ham, fungus, and mandarin orange peel.

7. Thicken by whisking in some starch.

Serve! Decorate the soup with lemon leaves and crispy chips if you like.