Snails are always a snack favorite of many people. What are you waiting for? Let’s cook with TasteVN to prepare the dish of butter snails in two extremely simple and easy ways: stir-fried with garlic and stir-fried with tamarind to treat the whole family!
1. Stir-fried butter snails with garlic
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Preparation
2 hours
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Cooking
30 minutes
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Difficulty
Easy
Ingredients for Stir-fried butter snails with garlic For 2 people
Butter snails 500 g Garlic 1 bulb Unsalted butter 20 g Bird’s eye chili 2 fruits Ginger 15 g
How to cook Garlic Stir-Fried Snails
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Prepare fried garlic
Peel and finely chop the garlic.
Place a pan on the stove, heat it on low, then add about 4 tablespoons of cooking oil. When the oil is hot, add the garlic and fry until fragrant for about 1 minute until the garlic is evenly golden, then turn off the heat. Stir constantly to prevent the garlic from burning.
Pour the garlic into a bowl, strain the oil separately and set it aside, only using the fried garlic.
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Prepare the snails
Clean the chili peppers and crush them. Clean the ginger, slice it, and crush it as well.
Wash the snails thoroughly, then soak them in cold water with a few crushed chili peppers for about 30 minutes to 1 hour to remove all the sand. Rinse with clean water and let them drain.
Place a pot on the stove, add 1 liter of water to cover the snails, bring the water to a boil over high heat, add 15g of sliced and crushed ginger, and blanch the snails for 2 minutes over high heat, then remove and rinse clean.
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Stir-fry the snails
Put the pan on the stove, turn on medium heat, when the pan is hot, add 20g of unsalted butter, 2 tablespoons of fish sauce, and 3 tablespoons of sugar.
Stir well to dissolve the sugar, cook until the sauce boils and thickens slightly.
Add the snails to stir-fry over high heat, add the fried garlic prepared earlier, stir well, and let it sit for about 2 minutes for the snails to absorb the seasoning and get the aroma of the garlic, then turn off the heat.
Tip: The key to making delicious garlic stir-fried snails is to stir evenly and quickly so that each snail absorbs the rich flavor.
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Finished product
You can eat the snails with chili salt (or pepper) and add a bit of lime or kumquat for a tangy and spicy flavor to enhance the dish.
Stir-fried snails with garlic are delicious with chewy snails, a slight sweetness from the fragrant garlic, and a rich, slightly salty and sour-spicy dipping sauce that is very appealing, right? Let’s enjoy it right away.
2. Stir-fried snails with tamarind
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Preparation
2 hours
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Cooking time
30 minutes
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Difficulty level
Easy
Ingredients for Stir-fried snails with tamarind For 2 people
Snails 500 g Pork fat 150 g Vietnamese coriander 20 g Onion 1/2 bulb Green onion 2 stalks Tamarind pulp 60 g Minced garlic 20 g Roasted peanuts 30 g Kumquat 2 fruits Crushed bird’s eye chili 2 pieces
Tools needed:
Non-stick pan, bowl, basin
How to prepare Stir-fried Snails with Tamarind
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Prepare the ingredients
Soak the snails in rice water for about 1 – 2 hours to allow them to expel all dirt, then rinse them thoroughly with water and let them drain.
Put the tamarind in a bowl, add 1 cup of hot water to soften it.
Peel the onion, wash it, let it drain, then cut it into wedges. Clean the Vietnamese balm leaves, chop half of them, and leave the other half whole.
Clean the green onions and cut them into 3cm pieces.
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Render the pork fat and blanch the snails
Wash the pork fat, let it drain, and cut it into 1cm cubes.
Place a pan on the stove, add a little water, and cook over high heat to render the pork fat, keeping the rendered fat separate.
Blanch the snails: Place about 1 liter of water in a pot, bring it to a boil over high heat, add the snails to the boiling water with 1 teaspoon of seasoning powder and 1 tablespoon of fermented rice vinegar, blanch quickly over high heat, then remove the snails and let them drain.
Prepare the tamarind sauce: filter the tamarind to get the juice, discard the pulp, pour 1 cup of tamarind juice into a bowl, add 1 teaspoon of seasoning powder, 1 tablespoon of chili sauce, 2.5 tablespoons of sugar, 1 tablespoon of fish sauce, 4 tablespoons of water, and stir well to dissolve the mixture.
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Stir-fried snails
Put a pan on the stove, turn on high heat, add 2 tablespoons of pork fat to the pan, add minced garlic and smashed chili to sauté until fragrant, then add chopped onion and stir-fry briefly for about 3 – 4 minutes, add the mixed tamarind juice and 1 tablespoon of tapioca flour and bring to a boil before adding the snails and tossing evenly.
Stir-fry for 3 – 4 minutes for the snails to absorb the seasoning, finally add chopped green onions and shredded Vietnamese coriander and toss again before turning off the heat.
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Final product
You dip the snails in salt and pepper, squeeze a little sour kumquat juice for added flavor!
Plate the snails, sprinkle a bit of Vietnamese coriander and the fried pork fat on top for a perfect combination. If you add roasted peanuts on top, the dish will be even more delicious.
How to choose delicious mud snails:
- To have fresh, delicious, and fatty snails, you should choose snails with the mantle located close to the outside, the body of the snail when still tends to stick its head out; when disturbed, it will retract inside and the mantle will close.
- Those with the mantle retracted inside are usually snails that have been around for a long time, weak and not tasty, and sometimes they may even be dead.
- Dead snails will have a rather unpleasant smell. Another way to check is to drop the snails into water; dead snails will float to the top and their mouths will be visible above the surface.
- When selecting mud snails, you should pay attention to choose those that have not opened their shells. Because those that have opened their mouths indicate that the snails are no longer fresh.
- You should not choose those that are too large because, according to experience, the larger the snail, the tougher and blander the meat will be, with less sweetness. Therefore, you should pick snails that are slightly larger than a thumb, which are the most suitable and tastiest (choose snails that are medium-sized, have thick mantles, are fresh, and firm).
Tips for cleaning snails
Soak snails in a metal basin
A common characteristic of all types of snails that we often overlook is that snails will naturally open their mouths to expel mud if they detect a metallic smell.
Therefore, you should soak the snails in a stainless steel basin or add metal utensils like knives, spoons, forks, chopsticks for about 1 – 2 hours; the snails will expel all the mud.
Use rice washing water
Besides metal, a simple way to clean snails is with rice washing water.
You use a medium basin, pour the rice washing water to cover the snails and soak for 1 – 2 hours; the snails will automatically expel all the mud and slime.
At this point, you just need to rinse the snails again with clean water to be able to prepare these snails into delicious dishes.
Use spices like vinegar, lemon, chili
A simple and effective way to clean snails is to mix spices including lemon (sour vinegar), chili powder, and salt with water, then soak the snails for 1 – 2 hours.
These spices all help to quickly remove the slime and mud stuck to the snails without spending too much time and effort.
With 2 really simple and easy-to-follow recipes, stir-fried snails are very delicious. What are you waiting for? Let’s try cooking right away.
*Refer to the images and recipes from the YouTube channel Mon Ngon Moi Ngay.
