Sea nail dishes propel Vietnam on global culinary map

The Star, an English-language newspaper in Malaysia has just published an article titled “Dishes cooked from sea snails put Vietnam on the world culinary map”.

According to the article, Vietnamese seafood lovers really enjoy trying snails for their tastiness, fragrance and high nutrition. The sea snails can be cooked in various ways as chefs create a lot of cooking recipes to serve foodies. Vietnam has abundant seafood resources; therefore, seafood, including snails are popular and favorite food with affordable prices.

Cockles.

They include spotted Babylon snails, razor clams, cactus spiny snails, mud creeper sea snails and many others. Among them, spotted Babylon snail is the most in-demand at restaurants and hotels because it has its own unique flavor, freshness, natural sweetness and exquisite presentation. This kind of snail, fragrant and crispy, provides an unforgettable culinary experience for diners.  

There are many ways to cook snails, such as steamed and boiled and fried, roasted, grilled and so on. Many really enjoy steamed spotted Babylon snail with lemongrass, with cheese sauce or simply fried with salt and chili.

Various kinds of seafood.

Getting the hang of making a dipping sauce is an important step to making a Vietnamese dish just right, which helps enhance the flavor and taste. “When putting a piece into my mouth to slowly chew it you immediately experience its crispy, rich fatty texture. If you then choose to dip the snail in a bowl of mixed salt, lemon and pepper.”

The article also suggested the coastal destinations of Nha Trang and Phu Quoc for the gourmet food retreats. The places offer a variety of fresh and delicious seafood that are a must-try for any visitor.

Last month, Taste Atlas, an experiential travel online guide for traditional food that collates authentic recipes, food critic reviews, and research articles about popular ingredients and dishes, recognized spotted Babylon snail fried with lemongrass and chili as being among the top 100 tastiest fried dishes in Asia.

“Specialties cooked with snails have helped to bring Vietnam's cuisine onto the world map, which also helps to attract a lot of visitors and travelers to the country,” the article noted.

N.T