The first thing that came into my mind for this week’s Lasang Pinoy Sundays Theme – “Swirls n Twirls” – is a pasta dish using pasta twirls. But, as I browse my computer, I saw these photos:

These are photos of my Ginataang Kuhol that I cooked on Maundy Thursday. I decided to cook this dish when I passed by a vendor in our market selling kuhol (a.k.a escargot or brown snails). Kuhol is an edible snail and best cooked with coconut milk. Ginataang kuhol is a popular dish in the Philippines and served as appetizers in Filipino Restaurants like Cabalen and Kamayan.

I remember myself joining my childhood friends to get kuhol in the nearby rice fields in our hometown. My parents are not aware of that..hehehe…Tumatakas lang ako It was one of my memorable childhood adventures.

Back to the ginataang kuhol. My parents and youngest sister spent their Holy Week in our house and this is one of the dishes I prepared during the Holy Week. My family likes ginataang kuhol and was excited learning that I am going to prepare the dish for lunch because they haven’t eaten this dish for years.

I bought two types of kuhol the the ‘golden’ kuhol and the twisted, which is perfect for this week’s LaPis Theme. According to hubby, the twisted kuhol is more common here in Bulacan, which I haven’t tasted yet. So, I decided to give it a try and combined it with the kuhol I knew.

To prepare the kuhol, you need to soak it in water for several hours and change the water frequently. Tap the tip of the each shell with the side of a knife. Wash several times and drain. Set aside.

Here are the ingredients:

1 gal kuhol

1 thumb-sized piece of ginger, julienned

1 head of garlic, crushed and chopped coarsely

1 onion, sliced thinly

1-3 hot chili peppers

2 tbsp shrimp paste

Cream from 2 coconuts

1 tbsp. of cooking oil

a bunch of pechay

salt and pepper

spring onions for garnish

Procedure:

In a wok, heat the cooking oil and sauté the garlic and ginger. Add the sliced onion and chili pepper. Cook until transparent. Add the shrimp paste and drained kuhol and cook over high heat. Cook for several minutes until almost dry. Pour in the coconut cream. Add the pechay and season with salt and pepper. Cook uncovered over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally, until almost dry.

Serve with steamed rice.

Hay, this is one of the many dishes I love, which is best eaten with lots of rice. Eating this will probably require me to take diet supplements. Hehehe.

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