I take back what I said about liswi (blood-mouth conch). No sooner had I published my last post when someone gave us several kilos of those shells, pre-boiled, and boy was my father excited to see them.
Turns out he really, really likes liswi — likes them so much that he wanted them for dinner. I have always thought conch meat generally tough, based mostly on my experience with saang (spider conch), so was worried about indigestion, but then I had been wrong before. I picked one out of its shell and was surprised to find it tender. Oh.
In any case, I could not recall the last time we had liswi on our table. Also known as strawberry or red-mouth conch, it is said to be distinguished by its large stalked eyes. I have yet to examine a live liswi to confirm that, but you can see for yourself here. Pa chose to have them sautéed with nothing more than sliced ginger and garlic. No salt or any other seasoning, either.
One taste of the dish and it hit me why this particular mollusk meat hadn’t left an impression on me: I had never had any before. Which was not to say that I had not had liswi before, only that I had previously contented myself licking/sucking the spice-flavored brine off the carapace or shell, the same way I do with sautéed anínikád (although I eat plicate conch meat (smaller, see)). Like it says in the title, you get the meat, I keep the shells, and we are both happy. Were you expecting something bastos?
This post has no comments.
Post a Comment