Feasting on king cobra: Danger of delicacy?
By V. Anjaiah
JAKARTA (JP): We have read stories about blood-sucking vampires. We have seen people eating fried chicken, goat, cow and pig blood. But have you ever seen anyone drink fresh cobra blood?
If not, go to Jakarta's busy Jl. Mangga Besar, a street in West Jakarta filled with discos, karaoke halls, pubs, bars, massage parlors.
If you still need more action, you can see people perform unimaginable things at special warung (food stalls) locally known as warung ular kobra (cobra restaurant). They offer a wide range of reptiles ranging from ordinary cobras and pythons to the deadly king cobra. The snakes are not only delicacies but are also believed to have medicinal and sexual powers.
These warung are mushrooming in many parts of Jakarta and mainly cater to well-off tourists from Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong, China and Japan as well locals of Chinese descent.
Well before midnight I entered one warung with a colorful banner hanging out front. As I walked in, a luxury car pulled up and three handsome youths in their early twenties entered the empty warung. The waiter invited us to inspect the huge iron cage housing scores of white cobras, black cobras, taliwangsa (Boiga dendrophila) and also a three meter king cobra.
One of the three patrons, 24-year-old Hengky, examined the cage carefully and ordered a white cobra.
To my surprise, the waiter grabbed the snake with his bare hands and cut off its head in one stroke. He drained the snake's blood into a tea cup, it only filled one tenth of the cup.
Hengky was exhilarated and ordered another fatty, two meter black and yellow striped snake locally known as taliwangsa. The waiter repeated the process and added some arrack laced with Chinese herbs and two spoonfuls of honey to the blood.
Hengky's shaky friends didn't have the guts to try the concoction, but Hengky quaffed the drink in one swallow as if it was fresh milk. He is a regular customer.
One may wonder why a healthy young man like Hengky drinks snake blood.
"Besides the blood, the meat is also good for your health. Snake meat and blood cure many diseases," claims Amir, the owner of the warung which offers cobra soup, sate cobra and fried cobra.
The city's famous King Cobra House restaurant chain, which has outlets in almost every corner of Jakarta, claims that a snake's blood, meat and entrails can cure diabetes, asthma, skin diseases, backaches, allergies, gastric problems, weak eyesight, high blood pressure, problem pregnancies and is also an aphrodisiac.
"Cobra blood and guts, if mixed with our special arrack, can enhance your sexual performance," boasts the restaurateur.
This may be why there are five warungs and one King Cobra House restaurant along the 500 meter street where most of city's sex workers operate.
Each stall sells an average of 10 to 15 reptiles each night. On weekends the figure may reach 30. An ordinary cobra costs about Rp 10,000 (US$4). One plate of fried cobra costs Rp 3,000 and sate may cost Rp 6,000.
The most popular and expensive item on the menu is fresh blood. The rate depends on the kind of snake you choose. The other ingredients like arrack, whisky and honey are generally all ready added in. If you buy a snake you can drink its blood and eat its meat.
Since most snakes have little blood, except the giant king cobra whose blood can fill a large beer mug, warung owners offer different packages.
"We offer our customers, most of whom come from Taiwan, Korea and Hong Kong, a special package consisting of three kinds of reptiles, other than king cobra, for Rp 25,000. For a single cobra we charge Rp 10,000," said Amir, who has been in the business since 1982.
A king cobra goes for between Rp 200,000 and Rp 500,000. Earnings vary from season to season, depending on the availability of the snakes.
"During the wet season, when the supplies are scarce, we have to pay more for the snakes. But during the rainy season we get them very cheap and our earnings are not bad," said another warung owner.
Most of the snakes come from Serang in West Java, Lampung in Sumatra, and Banyumas and Cilacap in Central Java.
The snakes aren't fed for several weeks to keep their blood tasty. If they are fed, the blood tends to smell bad. This doesn't harm the snake because, according to several herpetologists, snakes are lazy eaters. Few eat more than once a week, many eat only 8 or 10 times a year.
Handling poisonous snakes is risky because bites can be fatal if not treated with anti-venom immediately.
"A cobra bit me on my hand recently," said one waiter while pointing to the wound on his right hand. He didn't go to the hospital but to his village of Serang for treatment.
"One should be very careful while handling these reptiles, especially the king cobra. That's why I always use a thick hand glove when I catch hold of its neck to show it to customers," he added.
Many people are afraid of snakes, but not two daring girls, Sari, 20, and Vivi, 21, who work at the King Cobra House in Palmerah. They not only take care of the deadly reptiles but also operate the restaurant.
"I know it's dangerous. I have to work here to earn my bread," said Sari, who is from Cianjur in West Java.
She lied to her parents about working in the restaurant. "Of course it's a restaurant, but its a different one isn't it?" she said laughing.
When asked about the taste of snake meat: "It's tastier than chicken and the blood mixed with arrack tastes like syrup," said Vivi, a junior high school dropout from Ciamis, West Java and an expert in traditional medicine.
The business is lucrative because most customers just drink the blood and leave. A warung owner can sell the snake's skin to bag, belt and wallet makers and cook the meat.
One local bought a three meter king cobra at Amir's warung for Rp 200,000, drank one glass of blood and left. An expensive fix.
It isn't known if cobra blood or meat can cure diseases, but the practice has been going on for centuries. Some people say it is the herbs that accompany the snake meat or blood that cure the diseases. However, the intertwined reptiles of the Greek caduceus are still used as a symbol of healing by the medical profession.
Cobra blood and meat actually being an aphrodisiac, however, is highly debatable.
"I have found some differences. Therefore, I always drink cobra blood before intercourse," said 35-year old Kim while sipping king cobra blood.
But sexologists have a different opinion.
"There is no food or drug which can act as a direct sex stimulant," said world famous Indian sexologist Dr. Prakash Kothari, who won the World Association of Sexology's award for Man of the Year in the field of sexology in 1989.
One thing is clear, however, people have faith in this kind of medicine and have been using it since antiquity in Asia.
The warungs must compete for supplies from the ever-increasing number of snake hunters, who kill snakes to sell their colorful skins to tanneries. Their actions may one day lead to the extinction of these tasty reptiles.