Mud snail, scientific name spit iron. It is a mollusk with a thin shell and mucus on the surface, the size of a bean. Bullacta exarata is rich in protein, which is delicious and has high nutritional value. "Ci Yuan" contains mud snails: "spit iron, Ningbo produces mud snails, like broad beans, which can fill the sea fault." In the article "Spitting Iron", I wrote: "A mollusk, mud snail, commonly known as yellow mud snail, looks like a snail, has a thin shell, spits and swallows sand, and the sand is as black as iron. Speaking of peach blossoms, they are beautiful, pickled and eaten, and one is made of earth iron. " Quan, a famous scholar in Ningbo, once wrote: "Every year after the rainy season, Wanweng people are ignored.". Bullacta exarata is produced along the coast of Ningbo. Every year in the peach blossom season, the iron in the belly of the mud snail is spit out, and the meat is tender and there is no mud stalk. It is called "Peach Blossom Mudsnail" as the top grade, and it is better to produce in Longshan area of Cixi, commonly known as "Longshan Yellow Mudsnail". The feeding of Huanglong snail was recorded as early as the Song Dynasty. According to historical records, when peach blossoms are in full bloom, the quality of yellow snails in Sanbei is the best. At this time, the mud snail just has long hair, and there is no mud and infertility in the body, which is especially delicious; Although the "osmanthus snail" produced in Mid-Autumn Festival is not as delicious as the peach snail, it is also big, fat and extremely delicious. The yellow snail produced in Longshan is particularly fat because there are a large number of low tide beaches along the coast of Cixi, which are formed by alluvial sediment from the Qiantang River, Cao 'e River and the Yangtze River estuary. The soil is fertile, especially in Longshan area, and the conditions are more favorable, so the quality of the produced snails is particularly good. Zhang Rulan, a scholar in Ming Dynasty, wrote in Song of Throwing Iron: "Soil is not soil, iron is not iron, fat as ze, fresh as crumbs. Originally from Ningbo, it looks like Jiayu Cave. There is agate in the plate and blood in front of the table. See the product, the drinker pinch it, raise a glass to eat it, all appropriate, fishy talk. Most snails are salted and eaten. Wash the mud snail just caught with seawater, put it in a container, add salt, stir quickly and let it stand for a period of time. After the snail dies, remove the water, add salt and wine, and seal the container. You can eat it in a week, and it smells good. As long as it is unopened and stored for a long time, it tastes extremely crisp and delicious. An ancient poem praised: "In the second spring, the soil and ice were bad, and the boat moved into the ancient Xu. "An An doesn't write fairy tales, but wine and ink become tadpole books." Fresh snails can go with soup. Eat before cooking, the meat becomes smaller and browned, and the taste is no less than oyster soup. There is a toxin in the mucus and viscera of mud snail. Toxins can be eliminated after pickling. Individuals who eat salt-free mud snails will have symptoms of facial edema and stiff toes, which Ningbo people call "fat mud snails". After a few days, the symptoms will disappear. Therefore, it is best to dip in vinegar when eating, which can not only sterilize but also increase the taste. Snails eat in different ways, each with its own characteristics. Generally, wok frying is very suitable for cooking, but locals prefer to pickle food with wine stains. The specific production method is as follows: select a big and fresh yellow snail, screen the mucus on the surface of the snail, wash it, remove water, put it in a container, add a proper amount of salt and yellow wine, then seal the container and marinate it for about a week. Then take it out. It smells strange. In recent years, seafood resources have been destroyed to some extent due to the pollution of beaches. Mud snails are not as many as before, and they are not as delicious as before. What is even more hateful is that some snail vendors maliciously soak snails in water, which makes consumers more and more bored.