Moon snail in Con Co Island

Moon snail is also known as Mat Ngoc Snail, there are many in the Central sea, the most concentrated is Con Co island (Quang Tri), Nha Trang – Khanh Hoa sea area … It can be said that Moon snail are widely distributed, but according to the assessment, Moon snail in Con Co – Quang Tri is the best.

Moon snail 

Moon snail, also known as Pearl’s eye snail, Naucre snail. At first glance, the appearance of this snail is very rough, but when looking closely at her mouth, it is very attractive with the round shape like the moon, sparkling white, yellow veins. And the inner shell is indeed the beauty of nacre, which is often encrusted on the art works.

They have an English name called turban, but according to the classification, we often see 3 species living in Vietnam:

• Brown pacific turban, Turbo bruneus
• Tapestry / Cat’s eye turban shell, Turbo petholatus
• Yellow/Silver mouth turban shell, Turbo chrysostomus

All three species belong to the genus Turbo, the family Turbinidae, and are related to the Trochoidea family with the cone snail, the gastropod Gastropoda. The genus Turbo is a very large ancient genus of snails with more than 60 identified species. Snails of this genus appeared at the end of the Cretaceous geological age about 100 million years ago.

Worldwide, moon snails are widely distributed but often appear in the Red Sea, Indian Ocean, off Madagascar, Mozambique, Chagos and Mauritius. They are also found in the Western Pacific (Philippines, New Caledonia, Samoa) and off Australia (Northern Territory, Queensland, Western Australia).

The snail meat is crispy, sweet, the last part has a slightly ringing taste, so people often leave it out, just take the meat. Snails are processed into many delicious dishes such as steamed, boiled, stir-fried, baked … Snails soak in salt water mixed with ginger and chili to release all the sand, then rinse many times with clean water before processing.

Cook the moon snail

Crispy, sweet snail meat is often processed into many delicious dishes such as steamed, boiled, fried, grilled … Snail soaked in salt water mixed with ginger and chili to release all the sand, then rinsed many times with clean water before processing.

The simplest way is to process snails by boiling, putting the snails in a pot with cold water just covering the face, adding a few slices of lemongrass, ginger and crushed chili fruit. Boiled snail has a mild aroma of lemongrass, the pungency of chili and ginger is very stimulating. Eating boiled moon snails is indispensable for a cup of ginger fish sauce, the pungent flavor of ginger and chili makes simple dishes become charm.

A delicious dish that is also popular with many people is grilling butter. After being washed, snails are put on the grill. When the snails are ripe, put butter into each snail. The heat melts the butter, soaking it up into the flesh of the snail. Bake until the snails are fragrant, pick them up on a plate and enjoy with lemon pepper salt. Unlike boiled snail, the meat is dry, crispy, but not chewy, and has a fatty taste and a faint aroma of butter is very attractive.

f you like the extra hot taste, you can enjoy the moon snail fry with chili salt. First of all, wash and boil the snail to just ripen, take it out to drain. Next, put in a pan with salt, ground chili and other spices to taste and taste. The outer shell of the shell is roasted in gold, soaked in salt and chili, so it is very attractive and stimulates the taste of people. And also the salty, spicy taste of chili salt and rich, crispy snail meat that makes you eat constantly.

How to eat the moon snail

To get meat of moon snail, you must be able to knock the snail on the table and then use a toothpick to pull the meat out. If anyone does not know this technique, when pulling the snail meat will cut the last intestine.

Enjoy the moon snail, feel the crispy sweet snail meat, not inferior to Huong snail. Particularly the tail that people call snail’s liver is fat. Come to Con Co to eat to remember, to love this special delicious and attractive specialty!