Introduction to the preparation method and detailed processing flow of dried snake

Dried snake for Chinese medicine is a dried body made by cutting open the abdomen of a medicinal snake, removing the intestines and other internal organs, and then drying it.

The processing method for adult dried snake is as follows: after the medicinal snake is caught, kill it by hurling it to the ground or putting it into boiling water; then step on the snake's head and neck with a foot, hold the snake's tail with one hand, and with the other hand use small round-tipped scissors to cut open the abdomen from the cloacal opening forward to the head and neck, remove the internal organs, separate the snake skin from the snake meat at the neck, cut the snake skin, and pull the skin downward with force until the cloacal opening, then cut the snake skin off. With the head as the center, roll the snake meat into a disc shape, insert the tail into the last coil, and after inserting a sharpened bamboo stick in a cross shape into the snake body to fix it, smoke it dry over firewood, turning it frequently so it does not get scorched; after smoking and roasting until 50-60% dry, switch to a gentle fire and slowly roast it until dry, then take it out and air-dry it, and it is done. For the quality of the finished dried snake, the best product is one that is pale in color, free of blood stains, free of mold and insect damage, fishy but not foul-smelling, free of scorch marks from fire roasting, complete in head and tail, large in size with thick meat, and with bright patterns. The medicinal snakes commonly processed into dried snake for medicine include the sharp-snouted pit viper (Agkistrodon acutus), etc.

Dried pit viper is generally used for grinding into powder or infusing in liquor. The method for making dried pit viper is as follows: put the pit viper into boiling water to scald it to death, cut open the abdomen and remove the internal organs, coil it into a cake shape, either keep the skin or peel it and break the ribs near the spine, spread the snake body flat, then dry it over charcoal fire, preventing it from being scorched; when it is 50-60% dry, switch to a gentle fire and slowly roast until completely dry, and it is done.

Jinqian Baihua She (dried young snake of the many-banded krait) is the dried young snake of the many-banded krait (Bungarus multicinctus), made from the dried whole body of a young many-banded krait with the internal organs removed. Its processing specifications are: the young many-banded krait sheds its skin for the first time 7-15 days after hatching, is about the size of a chopstick, and is about 30 cm long; at this time it is most suitable to capture and process it into Jinqian Baihua She. To capture and kill young many-banded kraits, the clamp method is generally used; first put the small snake into alcohol to drown it, then process and make it. When catching the young snakes, try as much as possible not to injure them, so as to keep the snake body intact. The specific method is: clamp the head of the young snake with tongs, use small scissors to cut straight open from the neck to the anus, and the more neat the cut, the better; then clean out the internal organs completely and immediately roll it into a snake coil. Then, with the head as the center, bend the snake body and roll it into a disc shape, put the snake's tail into its mouth, and then use 4 pins to pierce through the snake body from the outside inward to fix it into a snake coil. When the processing quantity of small Baihua She is relatively small, the snake coil can be placed on charcoal and slowly baked dry; an open flame must not be used for baking, and fire smoke must not be allowed to contact and taint the snake body, so as to avoid a smoky fire taste. If the processing quantity is large, a drying oven or roasting oven should be used, and the temperature of the drying oven and roasting oven should be kept at about 50°C. It is best to dry the snake coil until completely dry, prevent overheating from making it brittle or scorching it, and keep the snake coil neat in shape, without contamination by impurities or debris.

After dried snake, especially Jinqian Baihua She, is dried, each coil must be wrapped well in clean white paper and placed in a paper box; dried snake is most susceptible to insect damage, mold and discoloration. The method to prevent insect damage is: for every 5 kg of dried snake, use 0.5 kg of sulfur for 1 fumigation. Sell it promptly; if it needs to be stored for a period of time, the dried snake can be put into an earthenware jar for storage and safekeeping.