Snail Pepper Soup is a luxurious delicacy. It is light, mild-tasting and very soothing for the body especially after overindulging in very rich food and drinks. This pepper soup is not as common as other types of Nigerian pepper soup. In fact, I don’t know or heard of any restaurant or bar that sells Snail pepper soup.

Snails are commonly added to thick soups or prepared as Peppered snail. In my home, I make Snail Pepper Soup quite often and it’s mostly enjoyed by my Renaissance man.

Snails are low in calories, high in protein, iron and Vitamin B12. They also contain some selenium, magnesium and omega-3. Some people are squirmish when it comes to snails but it is a very healthy and excellent food when prepared well. Snails of different types are eaten around the world in France, China, Bahamas, the USA etc.

In Nigeria, the most common type of snail eaten is the African giant snail. You will have to break the shell, extract the snail, clean and wash off the slime before cooking. The slime is removed using lime, salt, alum or garri, alum being the cheapest, most effective of all of them.

I use alum to wash snail used for cooking Nigerian soups and Snail Pepper Soup and lime for other snail dishes although I still finish off with diluted alum water. You can get the snail seller to clean the snails for you, sometimes at a cost, although you most probably will still do a final rinse at home, they never do a thorough job of it.

You can also buy the washed and ready to cook snails, usually frozen, from large grocery and meat shops. These are more expensive than live snails.

Cook your snails until a fork can pass through it, it should still be crunchy, once it is soft and floppy, you have overcooked it.

To prepare Snail Pepper Soup

8 Snail
1 small onion
salt 
pepper
2 seasoning cubes
1/2 teaspoon palm oil
1 teaspoon uziza powder
utazi
nchu anwu (optional)

Wash snail and place in a pot.

Add just enough water to cover the snail.

Add onions, salt, pepper and seasoning cube.

Cook until snail is almost ready.

Add palm oil, uziza, shredded utazi and nchu anwu.

Stir and cook until snails are ready.

Serve on its own or with rice, Agidi (Eko, corn pudding) etc.

Notes

You can cut snails into 2 right through the middle before cooking.
Cook your snails until a fork can pass through them, it should still be slightly crunchy.

If you enjoyed my Snail Pepper soup, you will also enjoy my Stockfish Pepper soup, Peppered Snail, Ngwo ngwo goat offal pepper soup and Mushroom Pepper Soup.