Fingernail snail (also known as con thun thut) is a mollusk that lives mainly in places with a lot of mud and sand, found in some coastal areas of provinces such as Quang Ninh, Nam Dinh..., but is delicious and well-known in Thai Binh.

The reason they are called fingernail snails is because they are cylindrical, like fingers, about 7-8 cm long.

Ms. Nguyen Hang - a seafood supplier in Thai Thuy district said that this is a natural cockle so it is small in size, about the width of a chopstick and the shell is as thin as a bamboo leaf.

“The type about the size of a fingertip that people often buy is mostly farmed cockles, which are easier to prepare but taste bland and not as delicious as natural cockles,” said Ms. Hang.

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Cockles are harvested year round but are best around May and June.

In Thai Binh, cockles are a popular ingredient in cooking. The most famous and popular dish is snail spring rolls (also known as fingernail salad, spring rolls).

Ms. Hang said that depending on the tide, cockles will have more or less sand. Although preparing this type of cockle is quite difficult, it is considered to have a delicious and unique flavor, so many people still accept the effort and time to transform it into the famous spring roll dish.

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Fingernail spring rolls require a meticulous and time-consuming preparation process, but are still popular because of their unique and attractive flavors.

To make delicious nem manh tay, locals choose newly dug up, fresh ones.

After washing several times with clean water, people steam (or boil) the cockles, then open the shell, and take out the intestines inside. Next, wash the snail intestines again with the same water, after washing, pour the water into a clean bowl, remove the sand and repeat this step 2-3 times.

“Washing the snail intestines with boiled water like this will preserve the delicious, natural sweetness, and avoid making the snail meat bland. This preparation step is quite laborious and requires patience, so you need to wash the snails many times to remove all the mud and sand inside, ensuring the quality of the dish,” Ms. Hang shared.

After washing off the sand, people continue to gently squeeze each handful of intestines and then drain all the water. This step helps the snail intestines to become firmer, crispier, and when seasoned, they will not be wet.

The cockles are cleaned, washed many times to remove sand, then squeezed dry, mixed with spices such as ground galangal, fish sauce, sugar,...

Ms. Hang said that the nail spring roll is quite similar to some spring rolls in the North when mixed with a few familiar ingredients such as rice powder, ground galangal, lemon leaves, sugar, fish sauce, pepper...

Depending on the culture of each place and the preferences of each family, people can add or remove different ingredients, as long as the dish is still delicious and attractive.

“Similar to some shellfish such as clams, mussels, and ca xiu, cockles are also cold in nature, so when making nem, they are often seasoned with ground galangal (heating) to balance the taste. Thanks to that, when enjoying them, even first-time diners will not feel uncomfortable and avoid stomach colds and indigestion.

However, people with allergies should consider and be careful before trying snail spring rolls," the female vendor added.

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Nem Mong Tay is eaten with herbs and dipped in sweet and sour fish sauce. It is said to be effective in reducing hunger and cooling the body.

Similar to the familiar spring rolls, fingernail spring rolls are also served with sweet and sour fish sauce and some typical leaves and herbs (depending on each person's preference) such as fig leaves, ginseng, perilla leaves, perilla...

When eating, diners pick up the spring rolls on a large leaf, add herbs of their choice, roll them up tightly, and dip them in a separate fish sauce. This dish can be combined with rice paper or eaten straight away, both are delicious.

Because of its refreshing taste, nem manh tay is also considered a special dish that effectively reduces heat and hunger, and is popular in the summer or during Tet holidays - a time of many year-end parties.

In addition to making spring rolls, Thai Binh people also process cockles into many other attractive dishes such as stir-fried with betel leaves, sour soup, stir-fried with water spinach...

Photo: Song Anh DC

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