Taking a step away from my usual posts to highlight a few of the *interesting* items I find while traveling.
I have tried 2 of the 3 of these. You can probably guess which two…
SNAKE WINE (not sure how I feel about seeing eyes looking back at me when I peer into a wine bottle?!). Traditional Chinese medicine believes that snakes have important restorative and invigorating properties, from increasing virility to treating health conditions such as hair loss, back pain and rheumatism. The most common preparation of “snake” is to drop an entire venomous snake into a jar of rice wine or other alcohol. It’s left there to steep for several months while the ethanol absorbs the "essence" from the snake and breaks down the venom. I’m guessing this product won’t land well with vegans, vegetarians, or frankly anyone who cares about reptiles!
COCONUT CANDY: made from copra (coconut meat), malt (done with fermented sticky rice), and coconut sugar. Not only is it all natural- but what I found particularly interesting, is that they hand wrap each one in a special (edible) rice paper instead of plastic (potentially toxic) wrappers. I would love to see more of this wrapping in North America.
ROYAL JELLY: Royal Jelly is the only food that the Queen Bee eats, and is said to be the reason she lives 40 times longer than worker bees. I can not speak to the accuracy of this, but I was told that eating this jelly can slow down aging, decease high blood pressure and diabetes, improve eyesight, improve sexuality issues, and help with insomnia. It is said to contain 16 Amino Acids, all of the B vitamins, choline and collagen, and vitamins A, C, D, and E. Topically, it can help to heal cuts and abrasions, and can also be used as a face mask (& those of you who know me, know that I’m a total skincare junkie - so I’m game to try that for sure!).
Stay tuned for a couple more posts from Thailand and Cambodia.....
Cảm ơn!