Cobra Blood Shots Jakarta

Firm breasts, clear skin: Claims of Jakarta's snake blood salesmen

Earning up to US$100 a night, cobra blood vendors in Indonesia's capital say its great for health and sexual performance

King Cobra

On any given day on Jalan Mangga Besar in Jakarta, dusk brings a scurry of activity from street stall owners.

Food vendors roll their carts out and start chopping and frying. Fresh juice vendors squeeze and pour.

And between stands of fried rice, tropical fruit and seafood, sharp-eyed travelers in this area in the center-north of the city will spot large cages full of black cobras, slithering and climbing, their tongues flicking between the cage bars.

For vendors like Dani, who owns one of the half dozen cobra stalls on the street, there is nothing terrifying or strange about the cages sitting on the ground on the side of th e busy road.

Dani has been selling cobra blood on Jakarta's streets for nine years

Dani arrives at his stall with a green mesh bag full of snakes. He dunks the bag into a bucket of water to give the snakes a bath before putting them into a cage.

When customers take a seat at his stall, which Dani has run for the past nine years, he pulls out a cobra and tapes its mouth so it doesn't spit at him.

Dani’s assistant, Beke, often multitasks, texting on his phone in one hand while holding a cobra in the other.

Various snake species are available

Vendors try to select the most docile snake, one that will not begin moving frantically when the time comes to lay them out on the wooden chopping block.

When a customer orders a cobra blood shot, the butcher's knife comes out.

Some vendors insert the snake head into a wooden clamp, while others hold the snakes steady with their bare hands until the knife swings down. At the King Cobra Restaurant, colorful striped snakes (pictured) are on the menu.

From something so scaly, you can expect silky-smooth skin, allegedly

After the head is detached, the tongue often keeps moving and the head wriggles around the chopping board for several minutes before coming to a rest.

The headless snake body is handled with care to ensure none of the valuable blood is lost.

Buyers can choose their snakes from half a dozen stalls

Every last drop of blood is poured into a teacup. Cobra blood shots are popular with customers and most vendors kill at least 10 snakes a night.

Women drink the cobra blood in hopes of having smooth, healthy looking skin while most men hope they will gain more energy and sexual stamina.

Vendors do not feed the snakes beforehand because they do not want clients receiving a half-digested mouse with their blood.

The shots are chased down with water

On the street a serving of cobra meat satay sells for INR 20,000 (US$2.20) and at the King Cobra Restaurant it goes for a dollar more.

A side of peanut sauce and sweet soy sauce is paired with the chewy meat that tastes a lot like chicken. One vendor proudly says that even after selling snake products for 11 years, cobra satay is still his favorite meal.

Looks more appetizing than it sounds

Getting there

Jalan Mangga Besar Raya is in northern Jakarta and the best way to find the cobra stalls is to ask a taxi. Alternatively, take the TransJakarta busway to the Mangga Besar stop and then walk north. Istana Raja Cobra (King Cobra Restaurant) is located at Jalan Mangga Besar Raya