There are many kinds of snails, most of the meat is firm, chewy, delicious, is a kind of high-protein, low-fat, with high nutritional value of aquatic products. However, some snails are inedible, and if they are accidentally eaten, they will be unwell at least and threaten their lives. In order to help consumers eat snails scientifically, the following consumption tips are made.
There are many types of edible snails
Snail is a generic name for gastropods of the phylum Mollusca. It is divided into seawater snails and freshwater snails. There are more than a dozen kinds of seawater snails commonly found in mainland China, such as red snails, fragrant snails, flat jade snails, square spotted Dongfeng snails, rod cone snails, pipe angle snails, warty lychee snails, mud snails, embroidered concave snails, single-toothed snails and Korean corolla snails.
Side view and top view of the Chinese round field snail (Photo source: Aquatic Resources Research Office, Freshwater Fisheries Research Institute of Jiangsu Province)
Some snails are not recommended to be eaten, such as whelks, fish-eating chicken heart snails, Fushou snails (see photo), etc. Woven snails and fish-eating chicken heart snails are not edible because they carry toxins, and the risk of eating snails mainly comes from parasite contamination.
Longitudinal ribbed snail, source: "Encyclopedia of China" third edition online edition
The ground snail belongs to a kind of fish-eating chicken heart snail, source: "Encyclopedia of China" third edition online version
Fushou snail, source: Naturalist magazine
There are tricks to buying and storing
Purchase through regular channels
You should go to a regular supermarket or vegetable market to buy snails. In addition, when buying freshwater snails, be careful to avoid buying wild freshwater snails from unknown waters.
Choose fresh and plump snails
For the conch, it is recommended to choose the snail cover closer to the shell mouth, the snail meat is fuller, if the fresh snail is touched with bamboo skewers and other items, the snail meat can be automatically retracted. For freshwater snails, choose the one with a full shell, and gently press the snail cap with your fingers to check whether the snail meat is elastic. Do not buy rotten, smelly dead snails.
Reasonable storage is more secure
If you can't eat the fresh snails on the same day, you can cover a clean wet towel, store them in the refrigerator, and try to eat them within 3~4 days. It is recommended to eat the cooked snails on the same day, and try not to store them overnight, so as to avoid the rotting of the snail meat and the breeding of bacteria and gastrointestinal diseases.
Attention should be paid to scientific consumption
The edible part of the snail is the snail meat, that is, its gastropod, with mantle, antennae and other parts, and it is not recommended to eat the snail brain (salivary gland) and digestive glands and other visceral tissues (see figure), which often have a fishy odor or contain undigested residues, which will affect the taste. Pay attention to the following three points for edible snails:
Diagram of the internal structure of a snail
1. Wash well before cooking
Put the snails into a clean basin and soak until the sand is spit out, you can add a teaspoon of salt or a few drops of sesame oil, and shake or scrub moderately during the soaking process to promote sand spitting. A brush can be used to remove sand and mucus from the snails.
2. Cook well and serve
Snails should be eaten after cooking, and avoid eating raw, semi-raw or pickled directly after eating. Among them, the conch is mostly cooked directly with the shell, and the meat is eaten, and the meat can also be eaten in the form of dried meat and meat sauce, such as large snails such as red snails and fragrant snails. Freshwater snails can be stir-fried and boiled into soup.
3. Eat in moderation and don't be greedy
Snails have a high purine content and need to be consumed in moderation. In particular, people with gout should be cautious when consuming it. Do not eat spoiled snails. Do not eat snails if they have a peculiar smell, the snail meat becomes soft and inelastic, and there is more mucus on the shell.
Expert writer
Huang Hongbing is a researcher at Jiangsu Freshwater Fisheries Research Institute
Zhou Deqing is a researcher at the Yellow Sea Fisheries Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Fishery Sciences
Zhang Yinjiang is a professor at the School of Marine Ecology and Environment, Shanghai Ocean University
Wang Shanshan is an associate researcher at the Yellow Sea Fisheries Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Fishery Sciences
Source: Chinese Society of Food Science and Technology
Editor: Guan Chao
Reviewer: Pu Rui