Snake and Whole Scorpion Soup – A Dish That Makes You Sweat With Fear

In northern China, deep-fried scorpions skewered like grilled meat are very popular as street stall food, but in the south, the arachnids are preferred as the main ingredient of a soup that also contains chunks of snake and pork meats, as well as a mix of spices. Despite the toxic poison of the scorpion, the dish is actually considered a detox dish. Although scorpion soup is considered a part of Guangdong cuisine and general culture, you won't find it on the menu of every restaurant in the province. Quite the contrary in fact, as the dish needs to be prepared by an experienced cook who knows how to extract the toxin out of the scorpion before cooking it, to avoid poisoning patrons. The scorpion needs to be stewed for at least three hours, along with the snake and pork as well as garlic, ginger, spices and some vegetables to release its juices and allegedly give the soup its detox properties. The snake - usually a variety of water snake - and the pork are very tender and taste great, and the scorpion, well, it's technically not meant to be consumed as its medicinal qualities are already in the soup, but as the owners of one eatery told Radii China, most people try to eat it anyway. According to Chinese traditional medicine, snake and whole scorpion soup can help treat conditions like rheumatism, high blood pressure, convulsions and skin diseases.