Termite
mushrooms are most robust in the beginning of the sixth month on lunar calendar.
They are a kind of natural mushroom that cannot be planted by humans and often
appears near termite mounds in gardens. This species of termite makes
termitaria on dry elevated land with many decaying trees. When the rain
persists over several days, this species of termite secretes an enzyme around
their nest. Once the sun comes out, the mushrooms shoot up from this area in
patches that are sometimes several meters long.
Termite mushrooms. Photo: Huong Giang
People,
who hunt for termite mushrooms have to wake up when the sky is still dark,
carrying lamps for foraging. Termite mushrooms often re-germinate or shoot up
around areas where they were the previous year, so they are easy to find. On
the day the mushrooms first shoot up, they are as small as a pepper corn, with
pointy heads just beginning to emerge from the earth’s surface. Mushrooms this
size cannot be pulled out, so whoever finds them ‘lays claim’ to them by taking
coconut leaves to cover them or planting a stake there to mark it, so as to let
people know that the spot already has a claimant. In less than two days, the
mushrooms protrude from the earth’s surface to a height of 3-4cm, but they do
not yet open. It is not until the end of the second day that the mushrooms
start to burst open, which is the best time to harvest them and make the
best-tasting foods. Peculiarly, knives or any other metal object cannot be used
to pull out the mushrooms, because people say that if the mushrooms catch wind
of a sharp knife, then the following season they will remain submerged and no
longer sprout. Thus, on hard soil, bamboo and wooden sticks are used to dig out
the mushrooms.
A termite mushroom in U Minh Ha National Park, Mekong Delta. Photo: Huynh Lam
The
mushrooms, having been picked and brought home, just need to be soaked in
salted water and cleaned of the dirt that sticks to them. They need to be
cleaned delicately to avoid breaking or smooshing, which would ruin their
sweetness. The most delicious kind of mushrooms is those that have just burst
open in the morning. They are very fresh and their stalks are firm. This is the
most ideal sort of mushroom for preparing food dishes.
The
mushrooms cannot be cultivated, so often times they are difficult to buy even
when money avails. Termite mushrooms are regarded as valuable, rare specialties
of the countryside. With their delicate natural sweetness and characteristic
aroma, termite mushrooms can be made into many delicious, nourishing dishes
like mushrooms stir-fried in fat, simmered in premna leaves (lá cách), stuffed into bánh xèo (rice-pancakes), or made into a
soup with assorted vegetables. Every year during the Doan Ngo Festival (on the
5th day of the 5th lunar month) in the countryside, families usually gather
together with relatives and their children to make bánh xèo to eat and enjoy.
Notably, this is the point in time when termite mushrooms are in season. The bánh xèo are stuffed with greasyback
shrimp, mung bean, and extremely tasty, sweet-smelling mushrooms. They are
eaten with household garden vegetables. Anyone who savours them once will
remember them forever.
Bánh xèo nấm mối. Photo of Webtretho
The
people insistently treat termite mushrooms as a top-grade delicacy that needs
only to be stir-fried in fat to retain its original sweetness and aroma without
the need for additional meat or fish. For perfectly ripe mushrooms seasoned
with scallions, remember to drop them in immediately, sprinkle in some pepper,
and in that way, relish this dish bestowed by nature. Besides that, termite
mushrooms are further made into fish, meat, and chicken porridge. The tastiest,
however, is toad porridge cooked with termite mushrooms.
In
the drizzling rain during evenings in the countryside, toads leap out in search
of food. Once caught, the toad is butchered and thoroughly cleaned. All of the
internal organs are removed, retaining only the meat, which is finely ground.
The toad meat is then taken to prepare a well-cooked porridge, after which the
termite mushrooms are put in. According to common folk, toad and termite
mushroom porridge with scallions and pepper is beneficial to one’s health.
Children who eat it will avoid getting rickets, and it cools excess heat. As
for adults, it is a nutritional supplement. Besides, the broth cooked by
amassing various kinds of sweet leaf (sauropus androgynous), pennywort
(centella asiatica), amaranth, and premna leaves from the garden, along with
termite mushrooms, is impeccable.
By Vietnam
Heritage Magazine