Recipe
[55 Years of Experience] Prepping and Eating Mamushi Pit Viper!
![[55 Years of Experience] Prepping and Eating Mamushi Pit Viper!](https://img.youtube.com/vi/HlDrpYq0ms8/hqdefault.jpg)
Ingredients
- 1Mamushi pit viper
- Saltto taste
- Pepperto taste
- Mapleleaves to taste
About "Salt-Grilled, Zangi (Fried), and Tempura Mamushi"
In this video, a chef with 55 years of experience demonstrates three ways to cook Mamushi (Japanese pit viper). He carefully preps the viper—a unique ovoviviparous creature—and showcases a cooking style that utilizes every part, including the bones and tail, to bring out its natural flavors through salt-grilling. Learn professional plating techniques and how to handle exotic ingredients.
Tips for Making "Salt-Grilled, Zangi (Fried), and Tempura Mamushi"
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Prep
- Carefully skin the Mamushi with a utility knife and clean the meat. Understand that all parts, including the bones and tail, are edible, and utilize them fully.
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Heat control
- Slowly grill the skewered Mamushi in a dedicated roaster until it crackles and turns fragrant and golden brown.
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Seasoning
- For salt-grilling, season generously with salt and pepper to bring out the natural flavors. Mamushi salt is also used as a finishing salt for tempura.
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Plating
- Garnish with seasonal elements like fresh maple leaves from the garden to evoke a sense of the season, showcasing professional care.
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Knowledge
- Unlike most egg-laying snakes, Mamushi are ovoviviparous, meaning they hatch eggs inside their bodies and give birth to live young.
Ingredients for "Salt-Grilled, Zangi (Fried), and Tempura Mamushi"
4 items* Tap ingredient names to find on Amazon
How to Make "Salt-Grilled, Zangi (Fried), and Tempura Mamushi"
- 1
Carefully skin the captured Mamushi using a utility knife and clean the meat.
- 2
Cut the prepped Mamushi meat into bite-sized pieces and thread them onto metal skewers, including the bones and tail.
- 3
Season generously with salt and pepper.
- 4
Place in a dedicated roaster and grill slowly until fragrant and golden brown.
- 5
Plate the grilled Mamushi and garnish with seasonal maple leaves.
Food Science
Salting draws out excess moisture from the meat, concentrating its umami. Additionally, slow-grilling in a roaster triggers the Maillard reaction—a thermal reaction between proteins and amino acids—which creates a savory, fragrant aroma and rich flavor. Grilling the bones and tail along with the meat extracts all the flavor around the bones, resulting in a simple yet deeply flavorful dish.
Detailed Commentary on "Salt-Grilled, Zangi (Fried), and Tempura Mamushi"
* Content organized by topics from the video.
A Giant Earthworm? Encountering Mamushi
The video begins with the chef, who has 55 years of experience, holding a captured Mamushi. He jokingly refers to it as a "giant earthworm," making the cameraman, Kengorian, laugh. At his seasonal restaurant "Kobushi," they usually use Mamushi salt as a finishing salt for tempura, but today they are trying various cooking methods for Kengorian to taste. Working in an outdoor space, the chef grabs a utility knife and prepares to work efficiently. However, the area is swarming with mosquitoes. He repeatedly grumbles about how annoying and itchy they are, keeping the atmosphere light and humorous as the prep work gets underway.
Battling Mosquitoes and the Chef's Beer Break
In between skinning the Mamushi, the chef takes out his favorite canned beer (Kinmugi) to quench his thirst. Exclaiming "So good!", he recharges his energy with the beer and continues working. However, because they are working outdoors near grassy bushes, the onslaught of mosquitoes is relentless. Smiling wryly and complaining about the bugs, the chef struggles a bit with the sharpness of his utility knife but handles the Mamushi with the skilled hands of a veteran. Kengorian watches the chef's bold prep work with a mix of anxiety and awe, worrying about the venom.
Mamushi's Unique Biology and YouTube Advice
As the chef cleanly skins the Mamushi, he begins talking about snake biology. He explains that while most snakes lay eggs, Mamushi are ovoviviparous (giving birth to live young after hatching eggs inside their bodies). When Kengorian expresses his amazement, the chef offers some warm advice to him, despite his busy agricultural training schedule: "If you're going to do YouTube, you need to study and know these facts about Mamushi." While emphasizing the importance of deepening one's knowledge, the chef finishes prepping the Mamushi until it is completely clean.
Dish 1: Simple Salt-Grilled Mamushi
After prepping, the chef cuts the Mamushi meat into pieces and threads them onto metal skewers. He explains, "To truly appreciate the natural flavor of the ingredient, salt-grilling is the best way to start." He skewers not only the meat but also the bones and tail, which he says are packed with umami. When Kengorian asks, "Can you eat the bones too?" the chef replies, "Yes, you grill and eat the bones right along with it." He seasons everything generously with salt and pepper and places the skewers into a dedicated roaster in the kitchen to begin grilling them slowly.
Menu Changes and Kengorian's Farming Journey
Although the second dish was originally planned to be standard deep-fried snake, the chef spontaneously decides to make Mamushi Zangi (Hokkaido-style fried snake) and tempura instead. When Kengorian anxiously asks, "Is this really safe? Is there no venom?" the chef laughs and says, "I'm the cook, you're the eater! It's an experiment!" They also chat about Kengorian's current situation—he is in his final year of rigorous agricultural training to become a Shine Muscat grape farmer. The chef cheers him on, saying, "It's tough every day, but hang in there," hoping the Mamushi dishes will give him a stamina boost.
Fragrant Grilling and Professional Plating
Inside the roaster, the skewered Mamushi crackles as it grills to a fragrant finish. Checking the doneness closely, the chef says excitedly, "Wow, this looks delicious!" To evoke a sense of the season, he shows a professional chef's attention to detail by garnishing the plate with fresh maple leaves picked from the garden. He plates the salt-grilled Mamushi beautifully, and the video ends on a high note of anticipation, setting the stage for Kengorian's tense tasting session in the next episode.
About こぶしの板さん
こぶしの板さん
9.9万人 subscribers ・ 和食・天ぷら
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