Buzz
Saigon is witnessing a peculiar situation, where one side of the snail faces a tragedy, while the other side finds itself in a dilemma: real estate and edible snails - those meant for eating rather than inhabiting.
Walking along Nguyen Huu Tho Street, in Phuoc Kien commune, Nha Be district, observing the skyscrapers - resembling pigeon coops, yet serving as future abodes for humans, due to the scarcity of land and the dense population - one can only truly grasp the plight of the barren land.
Meanwhile, in the evening, strolling along Vinh Khanh Street, District 4, amidst the bustling snail eateries, one can witness the bygone era of snails in Saigon. With names that ring loudly: Snail Hut, Baby Snail...
Moreover, on Nguyen Thi Minh Khai Street, there's a place called That Snail Spot - we'll come back to this snail species later.
The people of Saigon extend their gratitude to Binh Thuan province, known as the Obstetrics of Snails, for supplying edible snails to the palates of Saigon's ordinary folks.
Mr. Sang, a resident near Tan Dinh market and a snail expert, recalls that in the past, Binh Thuan's sea used to provide 60-70 tons of razor clams daily (this figure is unverifiable). 'Divers would dive until their insurance was in jeopardy,' Sang remarked. It's just one of Saigon's colorful expressions.
According to experts from the Institute of Oceanography in Nha Trang, Binh Thuan is a fertile aquatic region, thus abundant in seafood, especially the 'bikini' mollusk (as described by Saigon's seasoned drinkers). It regularly sees the emergence of new layers of mollusks. Razor clams/mussels are a prime example.
Binh Thuan is most renowned for razor clams and spiny snails. Razor clams have two shell pieces resembling the logo of the Shell company. This variety is often exported, while the common Vietnamese enjoy the 'cồi' - a delicacy that cannot be exported. However, even this delicacy becomes scarce and transitions from street stalls to restaurants.
Recently, a new type of 'cồi' from Phu Quoc emerged, as big as a thumb, known as the 'chôm chôm' cồi. Then there's the Truong Sa cồi, as big as two fingers and as long as a finger.
The sellers only know of the 'cồi' - the hinge used by the bivalve mollusk to close its shell. They don't know which type of snail the 'cồi' belongs to, so they just follow the 'marketing chatter' of the market and call it accordingly.
Actually, depending on the depth and shallowness of the waters, there's a type of bivalve mollusk called the 'upright shell'. This snail species is also known as the 'table snail', ranging from the size of a hand to twice the size of a hand.
The larger the shell, the larger the hinge. This type of shell has one pointed end and one end that fans out like a fan. The pointed end is anchored into the seabed, while the shell opens up to filter food.
Clever epicureans whisper in ears: 'Heavens, if you eat this in March when it's carrying its eggs, you'll be in quite a pickle!'
Upright shells are rare, found only in a few large restaurants, not in sidewalk stalls.
The Phan Thiet spiny snail is now a delicacy exclusive to Phan Thiet locals. Saigon spiny snails are all farm-raised. Farmed snails have shells with light brown spots, while wild snails have shells with dark brown spots.
In Binh Thuan, there's a place called Bau Doi, where locals use small boats to catch wild spiny snails with traps in waters several tens of meters deep. Each trap, baited with decaying fish, yields a few spiny snails with each haul.
The spiny snail doesn't earn its name naturally. To truly experience its fragrance, try catching a wild spiny snail the size of a table tennis ball, crack it open, slice it thinly, and eat it raw. That's when its fragrance becomes perfectly discernible.
But don't attempt to eat a farmed spiny snail raw. Who knows what it's fed with, maybe lots of antibiotics?
Phan Thiet, Binh Thuan also has another enticing shellfish called the conch, with intricate patterns on its shell. Just looking at it reminds one of some tribal pattern.
These shells, fist-sized ones, are often bought by people in Hon Heo, Kien Luong, Kien Giang to make traps for catching octopus. Female octopuses usually hide in conch shells to lay their eggs.
Unfortunately, the conch doesn't make its way to Saigon. The conch sold in Saigon eateries is actually called lime snail, smooth-shelled with no patterns, its flesh not as tasty as the conch, especially the Phan Thiet ones as big as a forearm.
Another type of sea snail, abundant in Phu Yen and Khanh Hoa, is becoming increasingly expensive, known as the jumping snail. It's called 'jumping' because it has a long eyebrow used for movement. Whether it dances Gangnam style, only the lucky snail catchers would know.
This snail dish is absolutely delicious when grilled, sweet, crunchy, and fragrant. In the mid-1990s, the snail was only 2,000 VND/kg, but now some places in Nha Trang sell it for 9,000 VND each. Saigon is even pricier. Snails are scarce and expensive because Saigonese are too fond of them.
If only the price of the jumping snail could be brought into the stable range of Ho Chi Minh City (formerly Saigon, where there was no price stabilization), there would be times when people had to queue up to wait their turn to eat, like queuing up to buy a glass of draught beer (in the North).
Apart from sea snails, there's also a rare type of freshwater snail, rarely sold at eateries. Only available at markets like Thai Binh, Ban Co, Ben Thanh. That's the river snail. Some call it the slice snail.
Connoisseurs of the fields explain that it must be the river snail, because this type of snail lives in fields with lots of water grass. Meanwhile, the slice tree belongs to the ancient tree category.
River snails resemble buffalo snails, but their shells are not as sharp as buffalo snails, caught in the wild, not subjected to the plight of being raised like buffalo snails, forced to eat until obese, with mushy flesh. River snails have crisp flesh, delicious in any style of cooking.
A special dish, only mastered by Saigonese: salt and chili roasted sucking snails. Spicy, savory. Not sure if using Quang Nam chili, faking salt and then roasting enhances the flavor, because Quang Nam chili smells divine.
Most recently, food enthusiasts have become obsessed with a dish that coastal residents used to only collect shells for souvenirs, dubbed the butterfly snail by a major newspaper. Some call it the butterfly snail. The reason behind the birth of the That Snail Place eatery is this.
However, those curious enough to visit this eatery and order the dish it's named after might find disappointment: 'Dear customers, the dish is not available yet!', 'When will it be available?', 'I'm sorry, I don't know.'
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Source: Mytour Travel Handbook – According to Saigon Marketing
MytourDecember 30, 2013
