🐍 Yummy Snake Dinners: Deep Isaan Hunting

Do you guys like eating snakes? Because I absolutely love it!

Snakes have a very distinct, unique aroma. While it’s structurally close to frog or crocodile meat, a properly cooked snake is incredibly tender. To me, the taste is closest to pike fish when snake is boiled, though a subtle hint of wild chicken is definitely there.

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🏹 The Early Morning Jungle Rush

We caught this particular snake deep in the woods while hunting for wild birds. Out here in Isaan, hunting wild birds—known locally as Nok Pa (นกป่า)—using primitive slingshots and traditional blowguns is a massive part of everyday life.

So, Uncle Achan and I headed out into the brush at the crack of dawn. Unfortunately, I couldn't capture the actual hunt on camera that morning—I was woken up so early and was so half-awake that I completely forgot my phone in the hut where my wife and I sleep.

We got back around 9:00 AM, and I bolted straight to the hut to grab my phone to film our catch. But the moment I walked out, I completely forgot about the birds... because staring back at me was a whole damn snake destined for the dinner table! 🤠

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🔱 Death by the Gig & Post-Mortem Reflexes

The snake was taken down using an ostroga—a traditional multi-pronged spear gig with sharp metal teeth fixed to the end of a long stick. You spear it swiftly, aiming right for the head to minimise the animal's suffering, and wait for it to pass. By the way, the locals use this exact same spear method for harvesting fish and chasing down rice field mice (though they prefer cage traps for the mice, the spear is always ready).

🛑 Wild Fact: When I first picked it up to film, the snake was technically dead—its head was motionless and the life was gone—but the body was still coiling tightly around my fingers. Pure, involuntary post-mortem muscle spasms. It’s a wild, eerie sensation to hold.

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🥃 40-Degree Fuel: Isaan Moonshine Culture

But let's be real—neither the hunt nor the feast is even remotely complete without the ultimate Isaan catalyst: local moonshine, Lao Khao (เหล้าขาว).

Out here, the rule is simple: during the hunt, and especially right after coming back from the woods, you absolutely must "season" yourself with a healthy, heavy dose of this clear firewater. It washes down the raw adrenaline of the jungle, kicks the morning fatigue right in the teeth, and primes your palate for the food.

Drinking this stuff at 9:00 AM might shock a tourist, but in the Isaan countryside, it's a mandatory ritual. It adds that perfect, chaotic edge to the atmosphere under the thatched roof and elevates a wild backyard snake fry into a 100% authentic local banquet.

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🍳 From the Backyard to the Chopping Board

While I was busy tending to chores around the garden, Uncle Achan took over the kitchen. His method:

1. Gutting: Completely cleaning out the insides.

2. Flash-Freezing: Throwing it in the freezer for a bit (a local trick to help prep the meat).

3. The Fry: Flash-frying it in roaring hot oil.

The result? Perfect, crispy, well-done meat that remained shockingly tender on the inside! Now, you do have to deal with the bones. A snake's bone structure is a lot like a fish—they are small, thin, and run along the entire spine like a cage of tiny ribs. It takes some patience to eat, but man, nothing tastes better than prey caught with your own hands.

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🍲 My Ultimate Favourite: Tom Saep Ngu

While fried snake is great, my absolute number-one dish is boiled snake soup—an insanely spicy, sour masterpiece called Tom Saep Ngu (ต้มแซ่บงู). It’s brewed with a mountain of fresh, fiery Thai chillies and young sour tamarind leaves.

📸 Note on the Photo: The image shows the boiled snake soup version we caught and whipped up on a completely different day.

The boiled version is legendary. The flavour profile shifts even closer to fresh fish, and it’s the ultimate lean, dietary meal—zero fat, just pure protein, clean broth, and wild backyard herbs. Perfect for sweating out the morning moonshine!

That's how we live here in Thailand! 🥂🐍

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