Regardless of whether you bought fresh snake meat at a market where this is a popular dish or skinned a snake specifically for dinner, you won't find a snake meat recipe in the common cookbooks. The snake sits between chicken and fish in terms of texture and flavor and can be made to look like either. This article will describe a recipe that is also suitable for some fish, so the resulting meat will resemble a small freshwater fish.
Ingredients
- 1 snake, obtained from a trusted source or familiar environment; avoid the risk of eating a snake that has ingested a poisoned rodent
- 1 box of corn bread mix
- 1/2 cup of egg white
- Black pepper
- 1.2 cm of oil (depends on pan size)
Steps
Step 1. Cool the carcass as quickly as possible
It can also be frozen. In this way, the integrity of the meat remains intact and the skin color is not affected.
Step 2. Skin the snake
Cut off the head, peel off the skin and remove the dead snake's entrails.
Step 3. Rinse the meat and cut it into pieces with a sharp knife or scissors
Make the cuts between and at the same angle as the ribs to avoid cutting them. If the ribs are cut, they can be difficult to remove from the meat once cooked. Some people prefer to leave the snake pieces ready to cook in salt water for a day or two to remove any remaining blood from the meat.
Step 4. Dip the segments in a little egg white (milk will do) before rubbing them in a mixture of pepper and sweet cornmeal (or cornbread mix with a little additional black pepper)
Shake off the excess.
Step 5. Heat about 2 cm of vegetable, canola or peanut oil in a heavy skillet until hot
Add the snake pieces one at a time to avoid a sudden drop in temperature in the skillet. Use tweezers to keep your fingers away from the scorching hot oil, watch out for dangerous splashes and, if necessary, use a screen to avoid a mess. Turn the snake pieces over as the dough starts to brown - by the time it starts to brown, the snake will be overcooked. There is not much meat on the bones and the muscles are thin and lean.
Step 6. Drain and let cool
Remove the snake pieces before they are overcooked – they will continue to cook after you remove them from the pan – and place them on paper towels to drain and cool.
Step 7. Serve the snake pieces still warm and provide napkins – this is a treat
Accompany with anything you would serve with fried fish.
Step 8. Eat the snake meat
There should be a long line of muscle on both sides of the spine; this is the thickest part of the flesh on the snake's body. The ribs are very firmly attached to the spine, so scrape your teeth over them firmly to remove the rest of the flesh.
Tips
- Overcooking (as seen in the photos) will result in the taste of fried meat, but leaving it on spot will result in a nutty flavor.
- If you still have dough, chop some vegetables, dip them in the whites and/or milk, spread them in the dough and fry.
- You can also simply mix the liquid into the batter and fry corn muffins.
- Snake meat gets most of the flavor from the way it is seasoned and prepared. The cooking methods used to prepare chickens will produce a snake meat that tastes like chicken.
Notices
- Avoid eating the snake's head as this is where the venom is located if the snake is a venomous species. A snake's body contains no venom and is safe for consumption.
- Wash your hands as if you were handling any type of raw meat.
- It is illegal to kill various types of snakes (especially venomous ones). Some are protected by law and you can be civilly and criminally liable for killing them.
- Be very careful when trying to capture a snake.
- Remember to cook the snake at at least 62°C to kill all bacteria.