Best Way to Clean Periwinkle

Periwinkle is a popular sea food, gotten from a swampy riverine areas. In Africa and Asian countries. Periwinkle is consider a delicacy and a suitable seafood for a good number of local dishes across Nigerian delicacies.

In Akwa Ibom, Cross River, Rivers, Bayelsa, Delta, Lagos state as well as the Eastern part of Nigeria it is impossible to have a meal without periwinkle.

In Akwa Ibom and Cross River State, the local name for periwinkle is call Mfi, Isam in Igbo, Isawuru in Yoruba, Mgbi in Bayelsa etc. and it goes with delicacies like Ekpang Nkukwo, porridge plantain, ishiewu and varieties of local sauces etc.

Periwinkle can also be used in soups like Oha soup, Bitter leaf soup, fresh fish soup, native soup, and Afang soup of the Efik and many other soups according to the desires of the Chef.

Periwinkle is a perfect combo with the popular kpomo sauce spice up with palm oil and a local leave recipes which consumers like the male folk enjoys this with a popular native drink call palm wine.

This sumptuous sea food is highly beneficial to the body, no wonder medical experts has confirm the following as health benefits of periwinkle.

• Highly rich in protein, which the body needs for growth.
• It contains all the daily vitamins that the body needs to work efficiently
• Isam as is called by the Igbos reduces risk of cancer, heart and reproductive diseases
• This sumptuous seafood contains omega 3-amino fatty acid and lastly, it has low fat.

Don’t forget that while cooking your meal with periwinkle, try not to cook to death all these nutrients, this means your periwinkle isn’t supposed to come first in your meal, so as to stay fresh in your food.

Certain cautions should be applied during cutting, avoid heating the long tail severally, ensure a one or times hit, the essence is so you have a smooth bottom rather than rough edges. Always trim the big rounded cap of the periwinkle to enable easy sucking during consumption.

Sizes of Periwinkles

Periwinkles also comes in different sizes of a very tinny sizes, a somewhat big sizes and the very bigger shell.

Species of Periwinkle

This rich proteinous meal has two species

1. The smooth shell
2. The rough shell

Join me as I take you through the steps to preparing your delicious periwinkles.

How to Clean Periwinkle

1. Buy a cup size of your periwinkle from the market
2. Spread the periwinkles on a clean cocoyam leaf or bowl.
   Get your cutter, stone ready
3. Get a clean bowl with water to store the cut periwinkles
4. Start cutting your periwinkles into suckable sizes (remember to trim the cap, this helps to keep it sizeable and smooth)
5. Patiently cut all your periwinkles to the last
6. Get another clean bowl and begin washing them with rubbing against each other
7. After 2/3 rubbing, cover the bowl and shake the periwinkles to completely remove dirt from the caps (repeat this exercise for at least three times)
8. Keep washing till you have a clean water
9. Add salt and stair. Leave it in the water for about 5 minutes
10. Add your clean and delicious periwinkles to your pot of food.