But Really, I Don’t Need It: Jakarta’s Cobra Soup

I was walking down one of the most illustrious boulevard’s I’ve encountered in my travels, Jakarta‘s Jalan Mangga Besar, when I sat down at a street vendor for some gratuitous late-night food.  But this wasn’t your everyday, run-of-the-mill street stall…unless you lived near one, or managed one yourself.

Right, as I was getting to, this vendor specialized in serving things to keep a man virile.  Put it this way – random green and yellow pills in vials, the average age of women on this street is half that of men, cigarettes smoke themselves, the only direction to go is up – that’s virility.  If you’re more familiar with Japanese culture, eel “provides” similar benefits.

The chef had cobras slithering around cages, waiting to be drained of their blood for the next customer to choke down.  Same idea as above, folks.  All I wanted to do was order a plate of sate ular, cobra satay, because my last memory of a snake-related item – viper ice cream – wasn’t a good one.

While I was waiting, a middle-aged local sat down for a shot of jantung ular, cobra heart, and sop ular, cobra soup.  No need to pass judgement…but apparently, he took my presence to mean “here, have a taste:”

Greasier than a walk through Little Italy, and topped with enough fried shallots to make you forget that you’re eating someone else’s soup.

As long as his motives are limited to that, we’re cool.

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Are these virility huts sprouting up in your neighborhood?
Planning to place your toothpick on a stranger’s French fries?  What would happen?