Sand snail, scientific name sharp purple clam, mollusk phylum gill, grows in the mouth of the river, is a shellfish seafood. Sand snail has two beautiful names, the Area around Zhanjiang is called Xi Shi Tongue, the legend is that Xi Shi and Fan Li rafted in the Five Lakes, born of saliva; some places in the Pearl River Delta are called Guifei Mussels, because their flesh is crystal clear like jade, like beautiful skin. Of the four great beauties of China, ShaLuo alias accounts for half (Xi Shi and Yang Guifei), which shows that he is worth a lot.
The sand snail resembles the tongue of a beauty
Wu Chuanzhuangyuan Lin Zhaotang also had a high opinion of Sha Luo, saying in the poem "Xi Shi Tongue": "As far as the Chinese and Western Tongues are concerned, Jiang Yao is difficult to be a servant. "Meaning, here Xi Shi tongue (sand snail), Jiang Yao (a kind of Yao pillar) is difficult to compare. At that time, there was less artificial breeding, and Yaozhu was also a treasure in the sea, and its value was higher, but Yuanyuan still felt that it could not be compared with sand snails.
Sand snails live near the tidal line and bury on sandy or silty seabeds at depths of 6–7 cm. Zhanjiang Suixi Caotan, HuangLuo, Lianjiang Longtou Sand and other coasts are produced, but the sand snails produced in Wuchuan can be called authentic. Wuchuan sand snail grows at the confluence of the Jianjiang River estuary and seawater, the brackish water blends, the salinity is moderate, and the planktonic algae that the sand snail eats are abundant, so the individual is large and the flesh is crystal clear. When the shell is opened, the white flesh that spits out is indeed very much like a small tender tongue, no wonder it is called Xi Shi tongue, it is really reverie.
Eat sand snails, preferably females, its individual is large, beautiful texture, especially mellow, very popular in the market. Some experts have studied and compared 2919 different sand snails and found that most of the shell length below 105 mm are males, while those over 105 mm are almost all females. The villagers of Wuchuan have long mastered the habits of sand snails to catch female snails, summer is the breeding period of sand snails, which will cause indiscriminate killing, and in autumn sand snails are thinner after childbirth, and generally choose to catch them in winter and spring. "February crab of the sand snail in the first month", that is, the sand snail is the fattest at this time, and the large sand snail can reach one pound of less than 20 net meat.
Sand snails dug by the sea
Wuchuan sand snail is fat and tender, delicious and delicious, whether it is soup, stir-frying, steaming, boiling is very fragrant and delicious. When cleaning the sand snail, first soak it with water, then use a knife to cut out the white and tender snail meat, cut a pair of antennae, pinch it, squeeze the sand out, and rinse it in clean water. This part is very important, must be cleaned, otherwise there will be sand to eat, and other parts of the sand snail are sandless.
The most common practice of sand snails is to steam them with minced garlic vermicelli. First, soak the vermicelli, stir it with a small amount of salt, oyster sauce and other condiments, and place the vermicelli on the bottom of the plate. Then spread the snails on the vermicelli one by one until they are full. Steaming time can not be too long, steaming with high heat for seven to eight minutes can be, the time is too long for the snail meat will be tough. Under the fire of the fire, if you open the lid of the pot, you can really see the "small tongues" gently squirming, as if they are alive. After steaming, the sand snails are raised in the pot, and then poured with special minced garlic, and the garlic and snail aromas come to the nose, and the saliva is really flowing.
On the food stalls of Wuchuan Street Market, there is another practice of sand snail that is very popular with the people - that is, sand snail porridge. After the rice porridge is boiled, add the sand snail slices to taste with salt, mix into the porridge, turn off the heat and simmer again, and finally sprinkle with chives. Wuchuan's sand snail soup is milky white, and the porridge rice grains are separated from the soup water, which is sweet and refreshing, and the food is not tired. If you cook porridge with sand snails, the taste is even more delicious!
The famous Wuchuan sand snail porridge
Wuchuan Sand Snail became famous because it was a tribute to the ancient imperial court. Such a folklore circulates in Wuchuan. During the Qianlong period of the Qing Dynasty, Wu Chuanwu went to Beijing to take the exam, and cooked porridge with dried sand snails brought from his hometown in his apartment, and when he came to the Emperor's uncle Prince He, he invited him to eat together. After the emperor ate it, he actually cured the cough for a long time, and he was grateful. During the examination, although Yizhong lost his hand, Prince He helped him, but he still entered the high school, and Yizhong was also known as the "Sand Snail Ganjinshi"!
Wuchuan Sand Snail was recommended by Prince He and later became a tribute to the imperial court. Whether Yizhong is the title of the golden list of media talents because of the sand snail is unknown, but the sand snail does have the effect of nourishing the yin and lowering the fire, and moisturizing the heart and lungs. Yi Zhong left his post and returned to his hometown, and Prince He's handwritten gift was "similar to willow-colored smoke, different pear blossom snow". This 130×30 cm Jingxuan silk mounting link is still preserved today, which shows that the relationship between Yizhong and the emperor is extraordinary, and perhaps the legend of the sand snail is indeed true.
Sand snail high protein and low fat, nutritional and medicinal value is very high, folk commonly used sand snail steamed rock sugar to cure cough, stew soup to cure hot eyes, stagnation, fitness, beauty. Sand snail is not only a specialty of Wuchuan, but also a brand of cuisine. Seeing the fluttering color and eating sand snails has become synonymous with Wuchuan, and tourists who can't eat sand snails in Wuchuan are regarded as a white trip, which doubles the value of sand snails. Today, wuchuan's tea houses and hotels have large and small restaurants, all of which have snail cuisine, which has also become a unique flavor landscape of Wuchuan.
Have you ever eaten this delicious seafood as sand snails? What do you think? Welcome to leave a message to discuss. (The material of this article has been originally authorized by Zhanjiang folk historian Luo Guohe)