Wavy Turban Snail Coctel de Caracol
Coctel de Caracol topped off with avocado and a dash of salsa. Credit: Jake Stein
The Wavy Turban Snail, also called the Wavy Top Snail, makes appearances at San Diego's local fishermen's markets, thanks to commercial divers. They will occasionally bring Wavy Turban Snails to sell alongside their other dive-caught seafoods.
If you've been tidepooling in Southern California, you may have come across the shell of one of these animals, or even the living snail itself. In deeper waters, where they are harvested, they are older, larger, and more abundant. For thousands of years, this snail, along with the abalone, fed the ancestors of the native people who originally resided on this coastline. While abalone have historically been the ‘main character ‘among sea snails of the California coast...they are off-limits for commercial and recreational harvest today.
The Wavy Turban Snail is sometimes called “poor man’s abalone,” because it yields a smaller amount of sweet, white meat that is similar in taste and texture to the abalone. It is better known as a food item among coastal residents of Baja California, where it has the name “caracol panocha.” Many recipes can be found using “caracol panocha” as a search term.
Older specimens can occasionally be somewhat bitter, particularly the darker flesh and skin of the foot. That can be resolved with aggressive trimming and/or double-boil, as shared in our recipe below. A double-boil serves to tenderize the meat as well. Like the abalone, the meat of the wavy turban is chewy and benefits from a little extra effort to tenderize it, whether through long cooking methods or the use of a mallet.
The meat is very versatile - you can use it in chowders, stews, ceviches, curries. It can be ground and fried like a fritter, or sliced thin and eaten raw as sashimi.
The meat of the snail is “twirled” out of the shell after steaming. Note the white operculum, visible in front of the fork. The operculum is attached to the snail’s foot. When threatened, the living snail retracts its foot into the shell, pulling the operculum snugly behind it like a door or shield against predators.
Photo Credit: Jake Stein
The meat of the wavy turban snail. The black skin of the foot can be trimmed to make the dish look more palatable. Photo Credit: Jake Stein
Lineup of coctel ingredients - just add caracol! Image: Jake Stein.
Ingredients
Saltines (Saladitos brand are typical)
1 roma tomato, finely chopped
Juice of two limes
Meat of 2 turban snails, steamed, trimmed, and cut bite-size
½ cup cilantro
½ tablespoon jalapeno, minced
2 tablespoons ketchup
1 avocado, cubed bite-size
¼ white onion, finely diced
1 cup clamato juice
Salsa Siete Mares, to taste
Salt and pepper, to taste
Serves 2
How to Prepare:
Follow instructions for removing wavy turban snails from their shell for cooking. Chop into bite-size pieces once guts are removed and the meat of the foot is trimmed of its dark outer skin.
Start a small pot of water boiling, and add the bite-size pieces of snail. Turn the heat down to simmer for 20-30 minutes, which will help the snails become more tender.
Once snails have been simmered, strain and remove to a bowl to cool.
In a serving glass, or a cocktail glass if you have it, add tomato, onion, jalepeno, chilled clamato, ketchup, and lime juice. Salt to taste and add siete mares to taste. If not sufficiently cold, return to the fridge to chill further while snail continues to cool.
Once dish is cold, add chopped snail and cilantro and stir to combine. Top with avocado and serve with Saladitos.
