Whenever the weather gets hot, it's time for the snails to shine in the night snacks rivers and lakes.
In the hot summer, beer with fried snails is the standard ending of late-night snacks around the world, sharp peppers, star anise and other spices in the snail meat to promote the issuance of fresh, salty and spicy multi-faceted flavor for a late night to increase the color and aroma. Diners who have time to indulge in "shagging snails" itself sound, between the lips and teeth, gently shagging, snail meat will be popped out in response to the sound, snail shells within the delicious soup also enters the mouth. Although a plate of snails is small, it can bring supreme fun, and the universe of "eating snails" derived from it is also latent with the wisdom of life of the Chinese people who see the small things and know the big things.
Small snails, big fun
Although small snails are inconspicuous, they have been discovered by gourmets early and have been on the table of Chinese people for a long time. Archaeologists have deduced from the snail shell accumulations at the Bailian Cave site in Liuzhou, the Carp Mouth site in Dalongtan, and the Giant Ape Cave in Liucheng that in the Late Paleolithic period, about 30,000 years ago, the local ancestors had already learned to burn snails, and to use bone needles to "tease the snail"; and there was also a spectacular snail mountain buried under the ruins of the Ancient Village by the Dianchi Pond in Kunming, Yunnan, and bone cones were also excavated. Yunnan Kunming Dianchi ancient village site is also buried under a spectacular snail mountain, but also unearthed bone cones, fish bones, copper cones and so on to eat snails "exclusive equipment", visible ancestors had a set of skillfully extracted snail meat to obtain the delicious unique know-how.
As a large farming country with a dense water network, China has the highest diversity of snail species in the world, with different sizes and varieties of snails in the north and south of the Yangtze River, but all of them can fill the public's appetite. Larger snails are basically round snails, used to fry the best snails; relatively small in shape, known as "snail" is mostly ringed snails, is the Liuzhou people point to the main force of the soup.
How many ways to enjoy a snail?
Not only is there a difference between the snails around the world, but the posture of the people in different regions is also very different, the people of Jiangnan love the freshness of the snails before the dawn, the people of Hunan and Gan love the hot and spicy flavor of the snails in the middle of the night, and the people of Guangxi have the biggest hole in their head, creating the "best cp" of the snail and the bamboo shoots. Although the snail is small in size, it can accommodate thousands of flavors from all over the world.
Jiangnan: the elegant flavor at the beginning of spring
Jiangnan people "do not eat from time to time," the principle of eating snails has the best embodiment of the snails, snails are available throughout the year, but the people of Jiangnan understand the natural growth of ingredients, that the best time of the year to eat snails in the Qingming, can not be let down. There is a proverb in the south of the river called "March snail, against a goose", praised before the Ming Dynasty snail meat fat, clean, the Qing Dynasty literati Li Tigizai also had a poem for it, "Qingming number of canon to know more and more, even things dry Qing alone addicted to snail."
Fried snail is the most common method of Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Shanghai families, thick oil and red sauce sauce pop snail seems to be a piece of sauce color, fine taste but there is a sweet; in addition to this kind of snail as raw material dishes, the taste of elegant people in the south of Jiangnan is also keen on snail and a variety of spring combinations of fresh leeks fried snail is enough to unify the Jiangsu Province's "provincial dishes", a mouthful of down! A fresh leek fried snail is enough to unify Jiangsu Province "provincial dish", a bite down all the taste of spring; and is located in the source of the Qiantang River in Kaihua, Zhejiang Province, the deep water between the quiet streams of the snail quality, with a handful of shiso with the fried has been enough fresh; and spring bamboo shoots with the cooking of the snail in the soup, the taste of the fresh, all the characteristics of the Huaiyang.
Snail and other meat partner, can also become a dish in the eye-catching strokes, salted meat steamed snail, eel tube stewed snail, are on the hall of hospitality dishes, Shanghai gourmets also stuffed with meat into the snail, to make a snail stuffed with meat, aquatic freshness and the perfect blend of the aroma of pork, is a unique taste of the childhood memories of the Shanghai people.
Snail is also Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Shanghai gourmets can not do without the tool to enhance the flavor, if you can not buy the head of the snail, the "old Yangzhou" people have no interest in simmering noodle sauce, noodle sauce must be snail and beans, wild rice together in the pot, it is best to come back to some shrimp garnish, in order to achieve the composite flavor of the noodle sauce; a Su-style Aozao noodle usually need to be snail and eel bone to hang soup, even if it is just a fried snail, eel bone to the soup, and the soup will be very good. Even if the soup of fried snails is used directly to eat underneath, the taste is also very good.
Hunan and Gan: Spicy and heavy to be flavorful!
The snail before the Ming Dynasty is only the exclusive taste of Jiangnan, in the summer night, the snail is officially on a broader stage. In Hunan brightly lit night snack stalls, snails are not inferior to lobster, barbecue of the popular existence, a plate of taste shivering snails dipped in spicy soup, selling appearance extremely hot. If you use a toothpick to pick out the snail meat, the shell of the snail in the essence of the flavor will be less than half, so Hunan people are extremely obsessive about the verb to eat snails, must be "shagging snails" or "drink snails", in order to exhaust the flavor of the plate.
In Changsha, outside the taste of shivering snail, all over Hunan in the matter of eating snails have delivered a different answer, such as Liuyang's Guandu shivering snail, and taste snail has a great difference, Guandu shivering snail practice is quite complicated, fine, is the snail meat after picking out the mix with a variety of colorful spices, and then stuffed back into the shell of the snail after steaming on high heat, leeks, mint and fennel and other spices to make the composite flavor penetrated into the snail, shivering extraordinarily addictive. Yongzhou, the upper reaches of the Xiangjiang River, is the most popular city in China. And the upper reaches of the Xiangjiang River in Yongzhou, to the golden yellow fish soup for the snail meat fresh, so here, not called eating snails called "drink snails", have to taste all the fresh fish soup is enough to enjoy.
Known for small fry in Jiangxi, love the spicy flavor, where there are leeks fried conch meat practice, only a change in Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Shanghai's style of small fresh, chopped leeks into spices, compared to the freshness of leeks and snails this flavor, fresh and spicy aroma is the main key. Many late-night snack stalls also believe in "strong together", the snail with another summer household - lobster together with fried, is a plate of spicy and salty snail burned lobster.
Guangxi: the first province of strange flavor eating snail!
As one of the earliest areas to start eating snails, Guangxi gourmets on the deep complex of snails, understanding of the full, no one can out of its right, not only fried, boiled, baked, boiled a variety of patterns, and even reached the "eat snails do not see snails" of the profound realm, sent the same all over the country as a snack --- snail meal. -Snail powder.
Foreign diners mention snail noodle, most of the first to think of exuding a strong sense of existence of the sour bamboo shoots, but Liuzhou people understand, to snail and pork bone boiled into the soup base, is a bowl of snail noodle is the most important color and soul, a huge amount of snails in the cauldron of hot soup in the tumbling, and pork bone and various spices together with the body and mind, every mouthful of rich and salty snail noodle soup was born.
In addition to snail noodles, Liuzhou people also have another specialty "hard dishes" - snail and duck feet in the pot. Duck feet in the pot stewed soft, a sip can be easily off the bone, shivering on a few duck feet to relieve the craving, and then slowly pick snails to eat, this is Liuzhou gourmets consume the summer night of the fixed link.
Liuzhou loves the savory richness of snail noodles, and Nanning is keen on the hot and sour taste of Laoyou noodles, walking on the streets of the capital, even the air is swirling with the taste of Laoyou, in the city of late-night snacks do not sleep, the Friends Friends will line up to get a wok full of Laoyou stir-fried snails, shiso, bamboo shoots, black beans ...... These ingredients with a strong Guangxi flavor and snails are stir-fried in a wok, bringing a pot of living color and aroma to the streets late at night.
Guangdong: the flavor of the world is fresh
Different from the colorful and heavy night snacks around the world, the "cold" night snacks in Chaoshan are a bit lighter in temperament, and the fried snails here have no chili and heavy sauce, but the flavor is not reduced at all. Chaoshan people like Jin Buhua (local basil), which is the "royal" side dish of local people when cooking river seafood, picking two handfuls of snails and throwing them into the pot before frying them, and then stir-frying them overflowing with aroma, the minty flavor of the aroma is properly neutralized by the fishy taste, which can be said to be refreshing and quite killing the mouth (杀口)! The mint flavor and aroma of the mint neutralize the fishy taste, which is very refreshing and quite "mouth-watering", and with a bowl of congee, it's a perfect night meal without any grease or oil.
In some cities in Guangdong and Guangxi deeply influenced by the Hakka culture, you can also eat snails stuffed, which is indispensable to the Hakka people's seasonal stuffed vegetables, large snail shells are full of rich fillings, after eating the meat filling, snail shells deep in the tender white snail meat is the finishing touch.
As the summer heat is in full swing, it is the time of the year when snails become fat. As people concentrate on the sound of shrieking snails, their love of life is also overflowing.
