HO CHI MINH CITY – Located in Ho Thi Ky food court, Da Lat-style stuffed snails are always crowded with hot, fragrant meat and served with ginger fish sauce.
From 15:00 every day, Ms. Trang, the owner of Da Lat stuffed snails, was present at Ho Thi Ky food court to display and prepare to sell to diners every night.
Each stuffed snail is plump, placed in a hot steamer, fragrant, and dotted with red and green peppers that look quite eye-catching. Many diners passing by this snail are attracted by the layout and aroma often stop to enjoy.
The owner of the snail restaurant said that she is from the West, but she really liked the taste of Da Lat-style stuffed snails during a visit to this country. So, after returning to Saigon, she decided to open a stuffed snail shop, more than a year ago. “I’m lucky to have learned and successfully made stuffed snails with Da Lat flavor. Perhaps this is also the reason why many diners praise,” Ms. Trang shared.
In addition to the impressive decoration, each stuffed snail in this row also scores thanks to the fragrant, tight, chewy meat. Ms. Trang said, to make each stuffed snail delicious and flavorful, the most important step is filling and stuffing the meat.
For the filling, she prepared the ingredients including cleaned snails, steamed with lemongrass until cooked, then removed the meat, washed and chopped. Next, she will mix snail meat with minced pork, raw ham, black fungus, red onion, garlic, ginger, lemongrass and spices to harmonize. In order for the snail to be beautiful, she must wash the shell thoroughly and use a lemongrass leaf to line it first, then stuff the filling into the shell with a moderate amount, must be tight so that the snail meat does not fall off and when eaten, certain toughness.
After being stuffed, each snail will be steamed in a basket with lemongrass added, after 30 minutes of cooked snails, fragrant. Snails will still be steamed hot during the sale. Currently, every day, Ms. Trang receives about 80 kg of snails from her acquaintance in Hau Giang, and every day it is empty. These snails and other ingredients will always be used up during the day to ensure the dish is always fresh.
“Stuffed snails look simple, but the preparation process takes a lot of time. But I am happy that my dish is very tasty and satisfied many customers,” the snail restaurant owner said.
This dish is served with laksa leaves, perilla leaves, herbs and dipping with ginger fish sauce. The snail shop will start selling from 3pm to 9pm daily. Each one costs 7,000 VND.