Small Stone Snails

Small Stone Snails

　　Small stone snails, also known as mountain stream snails or chuandu (a local term in Xinxing meaning “base” or “tail”) snails. These snails are extremely resilient and all lack tails. According to the *Luxi General Annals*: “Small stone snails live in the streams behind Guoen Temple. When shelled and soaked in wine, they taste sweet and are beneficial for minor heat conditions and fevers. Other regions may have similar types, but only upon tasting can you discern the difference.”

　　Today, dishes such as “White Rice with Old Chicken and Mountain Stream Snails,” “Yellow Mustard Greens with Ginger and Chuandu Snails,” and “Stir-fried Chuandu Snails,” made using small stone snails as the main ingredient, have become top choices among Xinxing’s farmhouse cuisine. Diners not only enjoy their delicious flavor but also value their therapeutic benefits—such as eliminating damp-heat, soothing the liver, and aiding digestion.

　　Legend has it that these uniquely shaped small stone snails also share a connection with the Sixth Patriarch Huineng of Zen Buddhism. It is said that when Huineng was young and gathering firewood on the back of Longshan Mountain, he came across a young girl knocking on the tails of small stone snails by a stream. He went up and asked, “Why are you knocking on the tails of these little snails?” The girl replied, “Once I break through the tails, I stir-fry them with ginger, scallions, oil, salt, and perilla—they’re absolutely delicious just by sucking out the meat.” Upon hearing this, Huineng advised, “All living things possess spirit. Have some compassion and release them all—perhaps they might survive.” The girl was moved by his words and poured all the snails back into the stream. Strangely enough, those snails, whose tails had been broken off, managed to survive and reproduce offspring that also lacked tails—thus giving rise to what we now know as the mountain stream snail, a beloved delicacy on many dining tables today.