Snakes for Lunch in Shanghai

The Chinese are notorious for eating just about everything. I've tried a lot of different food while on assignment in Japan, so the idea of having even more unusual food in China was quite appealing. When I heard that eating snakes in China was fairly common, I immediately asked our concierge for directions and recommendations for the best snake in town. He informed me that the government was cracking down on serving snakes, opting instead to protect them. Although not as plentiful as they were in the past, he still had a recommendation of good snake at a restaurant not far from our hotel. After all of the buildup, I can only say that I was surprised to find quite a bit of bones in our snake...but not surprised by the lack of meat. To me, once I got over the mental picture involved with eating a snake, the taste was pretty easy to handle. The lack of meat made me feel like I was eating more batter than anything...it was an experience, tons of fun, but I'm glad I had lots of rice to eat as well...or I may have been hungry. Interestingly enough, snakes aren't the most filling lunch around..haha