Rượu thuốc

Rượu thuốc or rượu dân tộc (lit. 'traditional liquor') is a kind of Vietnamese distilled liquor (rượu) with herbs and medical animals, considered by traditional medicine as good for health. This drink consists of herbs or animals soaked in alcohol as a folk medicine cure for diseases in Vietnam. In Vietnam, rượu thuốc is widely believed to help drinkers improve their health and virility. A popular type of rượu thuốc is snake wine (rượu rắn) for its placebo ability to cure multiple diseases including far sightedness, hair loss, back pain, digestive problems, fertility problems and even leprosy. The general principle of preparation is soaking venomous snakes in alcohol, where ethanol will denatured protein-based snake venom. In one method, the snakes can be soaked, or macerated in wine along with other ingredients with medicinal properties in Chinese medicine including ginseng, scorpions, Ming ariala (Đinh lăng), Fallopia multiflora (Hà thủ ô đỏ), Morinda officinalis (Ba kích) etc to remove odour. Another method of preparation is extracting blood and bile from a snake and its gallbladder and mixed with rice wine or grain wine to be consumed immediately. Rice wine mixed with bile is also called rượu mật. Rượu thuốc is typically drunk before a meal in a shot glass or thimble size cups, for only one or two shot glasses for health benefits. It is also used in drinking sessions and as souvenir gifts from a trip, as each region has its own variety of rượu thuốc. It is believed among Vietnamese that drinking rượu thuốc may cure or alleviate several diseases (but not the ones caused by viruses or bacteria).

Source: Wikipedia