Ninh Binh Rocky Mountain Snail

Nature not only bestows Ninh Binh with many famous scenic landscapes, but also endows this place with a precious snail that is the mountain snail. In recent years, besides famous delicacies such as goat meat, scorched rice, Yen Mac fermented pork roll, Gia Vien shrimp paste..., mountain snails are the most delicious and attractive dishes.

Mountain snail is a kind of snail that lives mainly in limestone mountains, and in Ninh Binh they are distributed mostly in limestone mountains in districts such as Tam Diep, Nho Quan, and Yen Mo.

Mountain snails only live in rock holes and caves. They are difficult to detect and, in the dry season, they are almost invisible. They only appear when the weather is wet, that is, in the rainy season from April to August every year. The rest of the year, they bury themselves in the ground, in rock crevices or in thick layers of leaves. That's why people often have to wait until it rains and mountain snails crawl out to find food and breed before catching them. At the beginning of the rainy season, it is also a signal that the hunting season for mountain snails has arrived.

According to mountain snail hunters, if you want to catch them, you have to go early in the morning, because at that time, mountain snails come out of the cave to eat forest leaves, so this is the most suitable time to catch them.

This type of snail has the characteristics of living on rocky mountains. Their food is mainly weed plants, including many precious medicinal plants. Mountain snails can be processed into many dishes: steamed with ginger, fried with lemongrass and chili, mixed with salad... because they eat both medicinal plants, in addition to the sweet, chewy, crunchy taste, mountain snails also have the aroma of medicinal plants.

With each piece of tough, sweet, crunchy meat, enjoying mountain snails is not removing the intestines, eating slowly so that the bitter, sweet taste like the smell of Chinese medicine penetrates the tip of the tongue. This is what makes the difference of mountain snails that are hard to match with any other specialty.

Along with goat meat and scorched rice, mountain snail dishes are creeping into restaurants and eateries and are becoming an emerging specialty in Ninh Binh. If you have the opportunity to travel to the land of Ninh Binh, do not forget to enjoy this rustic but very delicious dish.

Leading Mountain Snail Restaurants in Ninh Binh:

Van Bao Ngoc – 86 Luong Van Tuy street, Tan Thanh ward, Ninh Binh city
Quoc Quan – Trang An village, Truong Yen commune, Hoa Lu district, Ninh Binh province
Thang Long – Chi Phong village, Truong Yen commune, Hoa Lu district, Ninh Binh province
Hoang Giang – Hang Ca Mountain, Truong Yen Commune, Hoa Lu District, Ninh Binh Province