This recipe was graciously given by "Miss Casey", the head waitress at the Pu Chung Pao resturant in Taizhong, Taiwan. If you prefer, you can buy a bowl of this tasty?? soup for a mere 400 dollars. This recipe makes 8 bowls of Tiger Penis Soup.
Soak the tiger penis in water for one week. Simmer with the 24 spices and medicines for 24-26 hours. Serves 8
Tiger Penis has long been valued by practicioners of eastern medicine as an aphrodesiac. The penis can be taken in soup, ground in wine, or soaked in rice alcohol for 6 months. Results vary, and recent interviews indicate that the recent influx of Viagra into the traditional markets of China, South Korea, and Taiwan has caused the demand for tiger penis to drop. Apparently Viagra has more reliable results than penis of tiger. That could also be due in part to the common substitution of ox or deer tendons for real tiger penis by some unscrupulous shop owners.
Medicinal uses of tiger parts has contributed greatly to the extinction of some species of tigers, and the near-extinction of others. Worldwide tiger populations, over 100,000 at the turn of the century are now estimated to be around 9,000. Despite the outlawing of killing tigers for body parts in virtually all the places where they are found, a brisk trade still exists in tiger medicine. In April, 1999 and survey was taken of Chinese markets in New York's Chinatown by the Environmental Investigation Agency, an international non-profit organization. Sixty three percent of the markets surveyed either sold or claimed to sell goods containing tiger parts.
Traditional Chinese medicine gives body parts of certain animals the ability to transfer the power of that animal to a human consuming or wearing that body part. The tiger is able to mate vigorously and repetitivly over several days. The average length of these mating is only 15 seconds, however. hmmmmmmm.
Other traditional uses for tiger body parts are:
whiskers - give protection from bullets, give user courage, and prevent toothache.
eyeballs - rolled into pills, prevent and treat epilepsy and convulstions
brains - mixed with oil and rubbed over body - cures laziness and acne
bones - mixed into wine, cures rheumatism
tail - rubbed on body, said to cure skin problems
heart - cooked and eaten, imparts strength, courage, and cunning