taklong

taklong – /ták-long/ (Hiligaynon [Capizeño] snail) [n.] forest snail. 

Other local common name:

• a.k.a. takrong in Hiligaynon (Capizeño)

A species of big-sized forest snail found in the woods or forested areas of Capiz province and nearby provinces on Malay island. This snail would thrive in moist places near a river or waterfalls. It lives on trees as this snail is fed with leaves of trees and other plants. 

They are caught crawling under the foliage and on the branches of trees and other plants. The snail is carrying on its back a dark brown coiling shell. 

It looks like kurakol (plant snail) or a big-sized kuhol (escargot). 

As food, taklong is collected and boiled in water to make it easy to pull out its meat from its coiling shell. The meat is pried out with a fork or pin.

The meat is cooked into barbekyung taklong (forest snail barbecue) by marinading it in barbecue sauce then skewered on a stick and grilled, or made into guinataang taklong (forest snail in coconut milk), guinisang taklong (sautéed forest snail), or adobong taklong (pickled forest snail). When cooked, it is gummy and chewy like a chicken gizzard.

Personal note

This snail is quite different from kuhol. It tastes bitter and chewy. In my case, I turned squeamish and had a thorough exercise with my jaw masticating the dish. It takes a good combination of spices and seasonings to make it at least enticing. Its bitterness is definitely so strong due to its diet of forest green leaves.

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