Two Delicious Ways to Eat Whelk

*(Above, one of our finished whelk recipes)* Whelk fritters with a sprinkle of lemon juice and Caribbean-style conch fritter dipping sauce.

Last week, I ventured out into one of the local bays with my looking box in search of bay scallops, which I believe are the tastiest seafood on earth. Unfortunately, my intended target was in short supply; after poking around for over an hour, I found only three. But the venture was not a total bust since I also managed to capture three large channeled whelks.

It had been quite a long time since I had last tackled one of these mighty mollusks. Over 20 years ago, I used to trap lobsters, and I occasionally hauled whelks up in my pots. That was the last time I tried eating them. I remembered them being very tough and chewy, and I have passed on them ever since.

But a friend of mine recently recounted, at great length, about how much he loved eating “conch.” He raved about “scungilli” salad, and his favorite preparation, conch fritters, and then went into great detail about his preparation. The secret, he told me, was to pound the living daylights out of the meat to tenderize it before cooking.

And, my father-in-law, a second-generation Italian who grew up in Rhode Island, has been asking me for years to get him some “snails.” Snail salad, as he calls it, is one of his all-time favorite culinary memories from his youth.

Many people don’t realize that there is a large-scale commercial fishery for whelk (sometimes referred to as conch) in the Northeast. In Massachusetts alone, the northernmost range of both the channeled and knobbed whelk’s range, around 3 million pounds are harvested each year. In Delaware, they are the fourth-largest commercial fishery in the state.

The vast majority of the catch is exported. Some ends up in Italy, where it is known as “scungilli,” or in France, where it is known as “bulot,” but the lion’s share ends up in China, where it’s considered a delicacy and can fetch upward of $40 a pound.

From the south side of Cape Cod all the way to Chesapeake Bay, many of the “lobster” buoys you see while out fishing are actually marking whelk pots. Unlike their Caribbean relative the conch (which are herbivores), northern whelks are actually predators that feast on clams, mussels, and scallops. The commercial whelk fishery is so large that it actually supports a secondary commercial fishery for horseshoe crabs, the preferred bait of commercial whelk fisherman.

» Reminder: Before harvesting, check your state’s recreational whelk regulations.

whelk recipes — Bay scallops and whelk…good eats!

So why is it that I have never seen whelk sold in a fish market, and I have yet to see it served in any local restaurant? I wish I knew the answer. It seems Americans have simply developed an aversion for all types of snails.

After returning home with those three whelks in tow, I turned to the internet to investigate the best way to prepare them. The first step was to get the meat out of the shell, and it turns out there are a number of different ways to achieve this. Most of the recipes I looked at suggested steaming or boiling them for anywhere from 5 to 15 minutes, and then using a fork to pry the meat out. Other chefs recommended smashing the shell with a hammer, which will supposedly release the suction holding the meat inside the shell. I found one source that claimed if you freeze them for 48 hours, the meat could easily be removed by hand. I also read that overcooking them can make them tough and rubbery, and most of the Asian-inspired recipes called for using the meat raw.

So, I decided to do an experiment with the first one. I would try the steaming method, but I wanted to cook the whelk as little as possible. I steamed it in one-minute intervals, attempting to pry the meat out after each. After steaming it for one minute, I actually bent the fork; the meat wouldn’t let go. After the fifth minute, it took some muscle, but I managed to pop it out.

I was then greeted by one of the most unappetizing sights I’ve ever laid eyes on. I was staring at a gnarly booger-like mess. I was getting cold feet, but I carried on, because I have seen and eaten worse.

The first step is to remove and discard the spiral-shaped bag of guts. The part you eat is the meat from the whelk’s foot. Next, I used a knife to cut off the operculum, the hard, shell-like apparatus. Then, I made an incision down the center of the meat because there are more guts in the middle that also need to be removed. Finally, I used the knife to scrape off the black stuff on the outer edge of the meat, and what remained was the edible part.

Then I decided to try another experiment. The meat of some mollusks, like squid and octopus, actually benefit from being frozen. Freezing causes water to expend, which breaks some of the cell walls, resulting in a more tender final product. I cut the whelk meat in half and placed one piece in the freezer. I then cut a thin slice from the middle of the meat, which was still raw, and popped it into my mouth. I wanted to get the true taste of my newfound treasure. I was pleasantly surprised. It was indeed chewy, but not in a bad way. It had a bit of a snap to it, similar to calamari or cooked shrimp, and the flavor was pretty mild. It reminded me of a steamer clam—there was a hint of sweetness and notes of the briny essence of the sea. I ended up eating about 1/4 of the whelk raw, straight up, with no seasoning. The more I ate it, the more I liked it. I learned that to get the ideal texture, it should be sliced as thin as possible.

The following night I thawed out the piece I had frozen and tried it side by side with the unfrozen piece. It was, indeed, a bit more tender.

My other two whelks were still alive in my refrigerator, so I decided to conduct yet another experiment. I popped them in the freezer whole and waited two days. After thawing them out, the meat was easily pulled out of the shell. After cleaning them, I cut a thin slice and ate it. The lack of cooking and the freezing process resulted in the most tender whelk meat yet.

That night, I decided to prepare a “snail salad” to share with my father-in-law. After consulting with him and reading numerous recipes online, this is what I came up with.

Must-Try Whelk Recipes

Scungilli Salad

1/2 cup of whelk meat (1 large whelk), sliced as thin as possible
2 tablespoons celery, sliced thin
2 tablespoons red onion, sliced thin and rinsed
4 cherry tomatoes, chopped
1 tablespoon fresh parsley, chopped
Juice from 1/3rd lemon
1 tablespoon capers
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
Pinch of red pepper flakes
Salt and black pepper to taste

Mix together all ingredients, and season with salt and black pepper. Gobble it up as is or serve over a bed of baby greens or atop thin slices of fresh bread.

Caribbean-Style Conch Fritters

Conch fritters are a quintessential part of Caribbean cuisine, especially in the Bahamas. (I vaguely recall eating them while on our honeymoon in Antigua.) I researched about a dozen or so recipes, and the majority I found included bell pepper, onion, celery, and even carrot. Some people puréed the ingredients in a food processor; others diced them. I opted to dice the whelk meat, so I could enjoy its texture.

If you omit the onion, bell pepper, and celery, this recipe is very similar to traditional Rhode Island clam cakes. Use chopped quahogs instead of whelk, omit the salt, and use clam stock instead of milk. I’ve also made fritters with blue crab meat, lobster, and squid. All were divine!

Whelk Fritters

(Makes about 12)

1 cup chopped conch meat (2 large whelks)
1 cup all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 to 3 dashes of cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon salt
½ cup milk
1 egg, beaten
1 stalks celery, sliced thin
½ onion, diced
½ green bell pepper, diced
1 clove garlic, chopped
1 quart oil for frying

Heat the oil to 350 degrees. (I use an electric deep fryer for this without the basket because the batter can stick to it.)

Cut the whelk into thin strips and tenderize them vigorously with a meat pounder.

Whisk together the dry ingredients in a large bowl, then work in the remaining ingredients with a spatula. Refrigerate for at least 1/2 hour.

Using two spoons, carefully drop about 2 tablespoons of the batter into the fryer at a time. Do not overcrowd them. Working in small batches, deep-fry for about 3 minutes until they brown. Remove to a drying rack and sprinkle with salt.

Serve with a sprinkle of lemon juice and a drop of hot sauce or the following conch fritter dipping sauce popular in the Caribbean.

These things were incredible.

Caribbean Conch Fritter Dipping Sauce

2 tablespoons ketchup
1 tablespoon lime juice
1 tablespoon mayonnaise
1 teaspoon hot sauce

Mix all ingredients and serve.

Two Delicious Ways to Eat Whelk