Nature's gift – Dong Nai termite mushroom specialty

10/06/2021 2654 0

Dubbed the "king mushroom" with a natural flavor that no other mushroom can match. Dong Nai termite mushrooms are abundant in Dinh Quan, Tan Phu, Thong Nhat, Vinh Cuu, Long Thanh districts... the fungus usually grows at night, and has a life cycle of less than a day before it wilts and fades.

Considered as a special mushroom, nature generously bestowed on humans, completely growing naturally and without any other interference. The termite mushroom has a white body, gray outer surface and slightly yellowish base. They only breed in dry places, where there are many subterranean termites. To pick mushrooms, people usually have to go to harvest from 3 to 4 am. At noon, if not picked in time, the mushrooms will die and termites will crawl up to eat the stem. This fungus is easy to stamp, difficult to transport, so it is rarely distributed to long distances or can only be taken away after preliminary processing.

In the experience of mushroom hunters, this fungus grows around termite nests. Subterranean termites have a nest as big as a dried coconut, shaped like a hole in the ground, white or slightly yellow. When pulling out termites, they often use their hands or sticks to pry them off, do not use a knife, because using a knife, the metal vapors will make the termites go away and no longer grow.
Whether it's soup, porridge, stir-fry, braised or grilled, termite mushrooms are still at the top of the menu. Termites mushrooms are sweeter than chicken, have a strange taste, termites mushrooms are also wrapped with turmeric leaves, banana leaves, and bay leaves and grilled with salt, pepper, and lemon. The aroma of termite mushrooms has an incredible charm that makes diners who eat once will remember forever. Although it is a rustic dish, culinary connoisseurs insist that there is no better mushroom in this world than termite mushrooms. 

Although termite mushrooms are found in many regions of the country, according to "connoisseurs", termites growing from termite waste, growing in the basaltic red soil of Dong Nai are the most delicious, so for the people of Dong Nai away from home every 5th of the 5th lunar month, the homesickness is even more intense with the first rains of the season and the fragrant pot of mushroom porridge by the wood stove.

Thanh Xuan

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