One of the greatest delicacies of gastronomy worldwide is seafood. Tasting these fresh foods is a real delight for many people’s palates, but it is necessary to know how to prepare them properly, because, for example, aspects such as cooking seafood are sometimes not as simple as it may seem. In this recipe we will focus on the cañaillas, known in some places as shells or sea snails.
If you want to know what exactly and how to cook cañaillas, as well as more details about the recipe, such as tricks to make them perfect and dressings or sauces to accompany them, at OneHOWTO we recommend that you continue reading this cooked cañaillas recipe easy.
4 diners
15 minutes
Low difficulty
Ingredients:
Steps to follow:
1
Before delving into the recipe for cooking cañaillas, it is important to clarify what they are. It is a very popular seafood in Spain, especially in Andalusia. In some places they are also known as sea snails, since they belong to the family of mollusks that inhabit the sea. To differentiate them from other snail or conch shellfish, keep in mind that this is a species with a yellow shell that has a very elongated end. Even so, once consumed, the texture and flavor are the most prominent factors of the food. Regarding its nutritional content, cañaillas stand out for being a source of calcium and potassium, for having a high content of protein, vitamin B and folic acid. In addition, they have very little fat and a low calorie content (91 kcal per 100 grams).
After knowing exactly what cañaillas are, we began to prepare the recipe. First of all, buy the quantity that you consider most appropriate according to the diners you are going to have and depending on whether there will be many more dishes to taste or whether it will be a main or only dish. For choose the cañaillas, we recommend you to know these tips on How to choose seafood.
2
Once you have them at home, start the recipe and fill a container with water and salt (about 70 grams of salt per liter) e introduce the cañaillas. This way you will clean the cañaillas. By immersing the product in water and salt, you will make the sand and impurities in the shells disappear. Try change the water when it gets dirty and repeat the action as many times as necessary until the water remains clean: it will be the signal that the cañaillas are ready to cook.
3
Fill a saucepan with water and, at the same time, prepare a bowl containing cold, salty water. A trick to cook cañaillas which is very useful at this point in the elaboration is add ice to the bowl of salt waterIn this way, it will be kept at a low temperature. Place the saucepan full of water on one of your kitchen fires to bring it to a boil.
4
When the water in the saucepan is boiling, you can add these seafood. When it boils again, pay special attention to cooking: the cooking time of the cañaillas oscillates between 10 and 12 minutes. The exact period will depend on the size of the product, since the larger it is, the longer it takes to cook.
5
When the 10-12 minutes of time are up, place the cañaillas in the bowl with cold water previously prepared to finish cooking. Then you can drain and serve to eat.
6
Now that you know how to cook the cañaillas, we encourage you to discover more ideas of dressings and sauces for the cañaillas.
- To add a different nuance to the flavor of the product and enrich it, you can season the cañaillas with a few drops of lemon and that’s it, or you can even add a little pepper and a few drops of mild oil. Likewise, they are also delicious only with a pinch of pepper
- A sofrito is a good accompaniment to the cañaillas, although you can also eat them with a simple salad.
- As for the sauces that can accompany them, the one composed of butter, garlic and parsley is ideal as a sauce for cañaillas. Here you can learn how to make garlic and parsley butter, we recommend you add a little to the preparation of these seafood or put a little in the center of the table so that the diners can take it to their liking. Another option is to make a slightly lighter garlic and parsley sauce, without the butter.
- To pair this meal, at UNCOMO we recommend you take a white wine with which you will enjoy even more the flavor of the cooked cañaillas. Here we show you the Types of white wine.
7
We finish this simple cañaillas recipe with some tips on how to eat them. It’s important to know how do you eat cañaillas before trying it, as it is not as simple as it may seem at first glance: use a toothpick or a fine double-ended toothpick, which is specific to eating seafood, to extract all the meat from one piece. You must also remove the operculum, that is, the small lid with which the hole in the conch is covered, before eating them. With this simple method, you will know how to get the whole cañaillas without fear of breaking, as long as you put it into practice with patience.
Also, if you like seafood, you may be interested in knowing this other recipe on How to make a seafood grill.
If you want to read more articles similar to How to cook cañaillasWe recommend that you enter our Food and Drink category.
Advice
- It is essential to be clear about how to know if the cañaillas are bad to avoid possible poisoning with their consumption. You should pay attention to these aspects. Like any other seafood, the smell is important. Check that the cañaillas smell good or that, at least, they do not give off an unpleasant aroma. A strong smell of the sea can be normal, but if you detect an odor that looks like rotten, avoid preparing these shells. You may detect it before you start preparing them, but also pay attention to the smell when you start cooking them, since if they are starting to go bad, it may not be noticeable before cooking.
- Much attention to appearance. The meat it contains should be soft and firm to the touch.
- If you buy the fresh product, the shell will be closed. If you find one open, throw it away because it is probably in poor condition and it is not worth risking your health and that of your guests.