Leddeg, The Freshwater Snail

Ilocano call it as "leddeg"-- the freshwater edible snail commonly found in freshwater area like ponds, lakes and ricefields. Darker in color and have longer tails compared to other escargot like the golden variety.

Season to gather them starts when the raining season comes. Usually thriving in shallow water with muddy soil people gather them by their hands.

The gathered snails are not directly cook as it need to be cleaned and detoxified by letting them live in a pan with clean water.

Cooking the snails can be fried, in fresh coconut milk and the Ilocano way which is "dinengdeng".

Dinengdeng usually have lots of water added with ginger, onions and local vegetables like string beans, squash blooms, white turnip fruits among others.

Taste can be sweet to the tongue of Ilocano. Well, the taste could be differ from other people. This is good for lunch and dinner.