Snake soup off the Hong Kong menu
Nothing staves off the winter chill in Hong Kong like a hearty bowl of snake soup, but there’s a problem – restaurants are missing the main ingredient.
Hong Kong’s snake industry is suffering a severe shortage after mainland authorities banned exports during the SARS outbreak when it was thought the respiratory illness was spread by wildlife in southern China.
The global epidemic was declared under control in July, and snakes have a clean bill of health, but the ban still stands. Chinese officials have told Hong Kong snake dealers it’s a conservation measure but the merchants are not so sure.
Some suspect they are victims of an overly cautious bureaucracy.
China is Hong Kong’s top source of snakes, shipping about 67,000 every year, and traders are having to defrost last year’s leftovers and import snakes from Southeast Asia at prices up to 20% higher.
An average meal of snake costs €2.85, about the same price as a bowl of noodle soup.
Some restaurants keep snakes coiled up in cages, ready to be killed and cooked on demand. But this season many are dropping snake from their menus.
Snake aficionados view the meat as a winter-warming food, even an aphrodisiac. “It tastes great. It’s good for your body,” said one.
Serpents apparently had nothing to do with SARS, which claimed 299 lives in Hong Kong, but some are avoiding snake anyway.
“People don’t eat ’wild flavour’ these days,” said K. Yip, a Chinese restaurant manager, referring to the wild animals suspected of spreading SARS. His restaurant isn’t serving its usual snake meal, which he says is a shame because it’s a winter institution that builds neighbourhood camaraderie.
“This year the atmosphere hasn’t been that good,” he lamented.
