Adapted from Auntie Emily.
I recently drove to Crane Beach with a friend to gather snails. It’s been ten years since I last collected this moon snail variety. Kai was terrified at first of eating them. However, once presented in a tastier format, he was quite impressed and took a liking to the food.
Make sure to arrive around low tide, and search in the water about ten feet in. In an hour, we were able to collect approximately 20 snails, a clam, and a few hermit crabs (the last of which I was hoping to fry, but they died quite immediately in the bucket). The size of the snails varies from fingernail to fist size. Try your luck!
This is a variation on the classic O-Chien, or oyster pancake commonly found in HK or Taiwan, with Hokkien / Teochew origin. Enjoy.
*I made a mistake when cooking this time: make sure to rinse the snails in a cornstarch slurry so that the sand can adhere to the mixture.
Ingredients
Pancake
- 1/2 cup snails, boiled for 20 minutes and shelled with a toothpick
- 2 tbsp corn starch
- 5 scallions, finely chopped
- 3 tbsp oil
- 1 egg
- 100 ml water (do not skimp, as the added water content produces crispy pancake texture)
- 1 tsp fish sauce
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp baking powder
Seasoning (sprinkle on pancakes immediately after cooking)
- 1/4 tsp white pepper powder
- 1/4 tsp black pepper powder
- 1/4 tsp MSG / chicken bouillon
- 1/4 tsp sugar
Dipping Sauce
- 2 red chilies, sliced thinly
- 1 tbsp fish sauce
- 1 tbsp sugar
- 1 tbsp white vinegar
- Heat a few tbsp oil in a skillet on medium heat.
- Combine all pancake ingredients.
- Ladle hot oil over the surface of the pancake.
- Flip when bottom face of pancake is golden brown.
- After 3 – 5 minutes, transfer pancake onto a plate lined with paper towel to absorb oil.
- Sprinkle Seasoning on pancakes immediately after cooking.
- Serve with Dipping Sauce.