Wine-Fragrant Snails

Name: Wine-Fragrant Snails
Prep time: 30 min
Cook time: 3 h
Total time: 3 h 30 min
Ingredients: 150 g river snails (starved 3 days to remove mud flavor; meat removed, scrubbed with fine salt to remove slime; black membrane washed off); 50 g Shaoxing wine; 20 g fine salt; 25 g shredded ginger; 25 g rock sugar; 5 g Sichuan peppercorns; 1 fresh lotus leaf (to cover the jar mouth); 3 g sesame oil (mixed in at the end)

River snails soaked for 48 hours in salted wine brine, producing a mellow wine aroma and tender snail meat. A classic dish recreating the culinary style of the Southern Song dynasty.

3h 30m

Easy

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Ingredients

river snails (starved 3 days to remove mud flavor; meat removed, scrubbed with fine salt to remove slime; black membrane washed off) 150 g

Shaoxing wine 50 g

fine salt 20 g

shredded ginger 25 g

rock sugar 25 g

Sichuan peppercorns 5 g

fresh lotus leaf (to cover the jar mouth) 1

sesame oil (mixed in at the end) 3 g

Instructions

Preparing the snail meat

Starve the river snails for 3 days to remove the mud flavor, wash them with water, break the shells, and take out the meat. Scrub the snail head with fine salt to remove the slime, wash off the black membrane, and set aside.

Preparing the brine

Place 0.75 kg of water in a pot and add the salt, shredded ginger, and rock sugar. Bring to a brief boil, then remove from the heat and let stand for 2-3 hours. Once cooled, combine the Shaoxing wine, snail meat, Sichuan peppercorns, and the cold brine, then pour into a small earthenware jar. Cover the opening with a lotus leaf and seal it with jar mud.

Marinating

After 48 hours, lift the jar cover, remove the snail meat, and rinse with cold boiled water until the flavor is appropriately mild. Drain, arrange on a plate, add a small amount of sesame oil and toss, then serve.