How to make Nigerian Snail Stew

Nigerian Snail Stew is one of those food items that gets wiped out at special occasions in Nigeria. Your guest could be really offended if you fail to include Snails on his plate particularly when your menu says so. Nigerian Snail Stew looks simple but could easily go wrong. You have know for how long to cook the snail to have best crunchy texture.

In Efik, Snail is called ‘Ekwong’ and in Yoruba it is ‘Igbin’. Some time ago in Lagos, some people felt that just a five letter word to describe this special meat was not enough so they decided to nickname it after a former state governor ‘Igbinedion’.

An interesting story about Ekwong. A couple of year ago when were all single and care free living somewhere in Surulere Lagos, something hilarious happened around Ekwong. It was Friday night and a friend of ours had gone off to buy barbecue snails. Nakanda as the place was popularly called made the best roasted snails in Lagos; right amount of pepper, right amount of palm oil, well-seasoned and enough of the charred skin of snail, so it was a Friday treat for most of us. Charles, our friend, had purchased his snail and of course ate some right there at Nakanda and was magnanimous enough to want to bring some to us at home. Some other friends would buy eat and clean mouth, as we say in Naija. I did this severally myself.

On his way to our house Charles was accosted by the police as he had a black  ‘ nylon’ bag with him. Black nylon bag in the hands of a young male at 8 pm in Lagos was a major crime.

Charles will do anything to avoid an encounter with the Nigerian policeman, well don’t we all.  Charles was so scared of the police that his answer was a mix between English and Efik. He blurted out “It is Ekwong sir”. Remember this was Lagos, the question was in English, so how could Charles think the police man will understand Efik. Anyway the bag was seized, searched and was not returned to him… The police is your friend including eating your snails.

The jokes, the laughter, the annoyance that followed this drama after Charles reported his incidence is unforgettable for me each time I see snails or cook them this scene just plays out. I can still imagine the fright on Charles face with the police.

Today however it is not going to be barbecue snail, it is Snail stew. I find that snail meat is quite delicate to cook. When overcooked it is too soft and uninteresting.

Depending on what you use to wash the snails, it could turn out to be rubbery when cooked. Frying snails, I feel takes away from enjoying the taste and texture of the meat.

Today it is not much of a problem to prepare snails as you can get it washed for you in the market. You then have to choose the “washing agent”. I prefer salt and lime… Two natural ingredients that also keeps the snail meat firm. I find that alum takes out the slime but lives the snail a bit too soft after a while.

If you wash the snails in the market or buy the packaged ones in the shop I will advise that you still get some lime to do your last minute cleaning before cooking as the slime tends to remain.

The key to enjoying snails whether in stews or soups is the cooking time. I recommend 10-12 minutes. This way the snail is cooked but retains that nice crunchiness to the meat and tastes great.

Enjoy some Nigerian Snail Stew and plain boiled rice!

 

Recipe for Nigerian Snail Stew

Ingredients

6 Snails cleaned and cut in halves

4 cups of tomatoes/ pepper/ onion blend

1 large Onion

1 tablespoon Curry powder

Pepper to taste

1 yellow Cameroun Pepper

1 cup Vegetable Oil

Chicken seasoning to taste

Salt to taste

Method

1. Place snails in a pot, add some seasoning, a little salt, some chopped onion, chopped Cameroon pepper, curry powder. Add about 1/2 cup water. Steam Snail for 5 minutes and turn off the light.
2. Chop onion into rings.
3. Heat the oil, and fry the onion for about 2 minutes. I prefer to take out the onion at this time and set aside. I like to have some bits of onion in the stew.
4. Fry the tomato blend till all the liquid dries up. Please refer to my previous post on treatment of tomato/ pepper/onion. This method makes a lot of difference to the texture of your stew. I love snail stew to be peppery so I use quite some pepper in this stew. Your choice of pepper intensity will depend on your tolerance level.
5. Pour in the liquid from the steamed snail and continue to cook the stew until oil starts to appear on top of the stew. Correct for seasoning and salt. Taste your stew to be sure the tanginess of the tomato is off. If not allow the stew to cook till that sour taste is off.
6. Return the snails and onion to the stew add the remaining curry powder and cook for another 5 minutes and the Snail stew is ready.
7. Serve with your Nigerian Snail Stew with plain boiled rice, some side vegetable and fried plantains.