Periwinkle snails and I go a long way back. I don’t remember exactly when I first had Cantonese-style periwinkle snails in black bean sauce, but it was when I was a kid growing up in the Catskills in upstate New York. In fact, back then I didn’t even know what they were called in English. I only knew them as “sac luo,” in Cantonese, which translates to “rock snail.”
Childhood Memories
Back in my day, fish markets in Chinatown sold periwinkle snails in large, round wooden baskets. We usually ate them out at restaurants, where they would clip off the ends of the shells so you could slurp them out easily. I know it doesn’t sound very civilized or appetizing, but periwinkle snails were a delicacy, and it wasn’t always easy to find them fresh!
I do remember the time I learned that these little sea snails we had been eating are called “periwinkles” in English… A high school friend of mine came over for dinner and my mother announced that one of the dishes that night was going to be the sac luo snails in black bean sauce.
While my friend was a little weirded out about eating snails, he still stayed for dinner after I explained that these little snails were good eating! (As was the fermented black bean sauce, another first for him.) After one taste, he was on board and even got pretty skilled at using a toothpick to extract them out of the shells, which is how we always did it.
Years later, we met up again in Connecticut where he had started working. That weekend, we went to his friend’s house to help pull some lobster traps, and I saw the same “rock snails” on the trap! Of course, I shared our childhood story with everyone and his friend said he would pull up “periwinkle snails” all the time, but never knew that people actually ate them!
So you can imagine how I reacted when I saw plenty of good eating-sized periwinkle snails on the beaches and shores of Newfoundland, Canada during low tide. Where else can you find such fresh snails?
Our family is good at foraging, whether we’re picking wild watercress to cook up a garlic watercress stir fry in upstate New York or picking wild blueberries in Alaska. So it’s should come as no surprise that we foraged about a pound of periwinkles!
Of course, the easier way to find these snails is to go to your local Chinese market––if you’re lucky enough to live near a Chinese market that keeps periwinkle snails in a live tank, even better!
I know this recipe is not for everyone, but if you feel adventurous, give this classic Cantonese recipe a try!
Periwinkles in Black Bean Sauce: Recipe Instructions
If you purchased your periwinkles from a live tank at your local Chinese fish market, then all you need to do is give them a quick rinse since they purge and clean themselves in the live tank.
After we gathered our periwinkles, we gave them a good rinse and then stored them in a bowl without any water overnight in the refrigerator. The next day, we soaked them in cold water for 10 minutes, and gave them another good rinse. Pour the periwinkles into a colander to drain.
Heat your carbon steel wok or metal pot over medium heat. Make sure you don’t use a non-stick pot, or you will risk damaging your nonstick coating. The shells on these periwinkle snails are thick and hard!
Add 2 tablespoons vegetable oil and 2 teaspoons chopped fresh ginger.
Stir the ginger for 10 seconds to infuse the oil, and add 1 tablespoon of chopped garlic, ¼ cup chopped onion, and 1½ tablespoons ground black bean and garlic sauce.
Stir everything together until combined…
And add the periwinkle snails.
Turn the heat up to high, and stir the snails into the sauce for 10 seconds. Add 4 tablespoons of Shaoxing wine. Continue stirring at high heat for another 15 seconds, and add sesame oil, sugar, soy sauce, and dark soy sauce. Stir and cover the pot or wok.
Cook for another 4 to 5 mins, covered, depending upon your stovetop heat. The periwinkle snails and sauce mixture should be steaming when you take off the cover. Add ground white pepper.
Next stir up your cornstarch slurry until it’s well combined. (Remember that cornstarch separates from water after sitting for more than a minute.)
Pour the cornstarch slurry over the periwinkle snails and use your spatula to quickly mix the slurry with the sauce.
Add the scallions, and continue to stir for another 30 seconds. Transfer to a bowl to serve.
These periwinkle snails are great with a nice cold beer!
So, how do you eat periwinkle snails?
Toothpicks.
Some people also use pins or needles but we have always used toothpicks (they’re much safer).
We didn’t have the time, knowledge or skill to crack the ends of the periwinkles snails to make them easy to eat like I described earlier in the post. My understanding is that Chinese restaurants used pliers to crack the end of the snail off before cleaning them so they could be easily slurped right out of the shell after cooking.
The substitute for this lack of skill? Use a toothpick to first pick off the snail’s “trap door” or the “lid,” also known as the operculum). After the snail is exposed, use the toothpick to pluck the snail out of the shell and eat it! If you’re still curious and want more information, you can read more about periwinkle snails on wikipedia.
Cantonese-Style Periwinkle Snails in Black Bean Sauce
Ingredients
- 1½ pounds periwinkle snails
- 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 2 teaspoons fresh ginger (peeled and finely chopped)
- 3 cloves fresh garlic (chopped)
- ¼ cup chopped onion
- 1½ tablespoons ground black bean & garlic sauce
- 4 tablespoons Shaoxing wine or dry sherry
- ½ teaspoon sesame oil
- ¼ teaspoon sugar
- 1 tablespoon soy sauce
- 1 teaspoon dark soy sauce
- 1/8 teaspoon white pepper
- 1½ teaspoons cornstarch (mixed with 3 tablespoons water)
- 1 scallion (chopped)
Instructions
- If you purchased your periwinkles from a live tank at your local Chinese fish market, then all you need to do is give them a quick rinse since they purge sand in the live tank.
- After we gathered our periwinkles, we gave them a good rinse and then stored them in a bowl without any water overnight in the refrigerator. The next day, we soaked them in cold water for 10 minutes, and gave them another good rinse. Pour the periwinkles into a colander to drain.
- Heat your carbon steel wok or metal pot over medium heat. Make sure you don’t use a non-stick pot, or you will risk damaging your nonstick coating. The shells on these periwinkle snails are thick and hard!
- Add 2 tablespoons vegetable oil and 2 teaspoons chopped fresh ginger.
- Stir the ginger for 10 seconds to infuse the oil, and add 1 tablespoon of chopped garlic, ¼ cup chopped onion, and 1½ tablespoons ground black bean and garlic sauce.
- Stir everything together until combined, and add the periwinkle snails.
- Turn the heat up to high, and stir the snails into the sauce for 10 seconds. Add 4 tablespoons of Shaoxing wine. Continue stirring at high heat for another 15 seconds, and add sesame oil, sugar, soy sauce, and dark soy sauce. Stir and cover the pot or wok.
- Cook for another 4 to 5 mins, covered, depending upon your stovetop heat. The periwinkle snails and sauce mixture should be steaming when you take off the cover. Add white pepper.
- Next stir up your cornstarch slurry until it’s well combined. (Remember that cornstarch separates from water after sitting for more than a minute.)
- Pour the cornstarch slurry over the periwinkle snails and use your spatula to quickly mix the slurry with the sauce.
- Add the scallions, and continue to stir for another 30 seconds. Transfer to a bowl to serve.
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