Moths are familiar insects in rural areas of Vietnam, often appearing during the rice harvest season. There are two types of moths: green moths and brown moths.

Among them, green octopus (also known as "flying shrimp") has been exploited as food for a long time and has gradually become famous in many provinces and cities, promoted as a rare and hard-to-find specialty, making customers "red-eyed" to buy it.

Green sage grouse

Ms. Duong Thanh Mai - owner of a shop specializing in serving specialties from 3 regions in Hanoi said that green muong muong mainly appears during the rice season, divided into two periods: from the end of April to the end of July and from the beginning of August to the end of September.

These are also the times when the muong muong is considered to have the best quality, with fatty and fragrant meat. Depending on the locality, the rice season can be earlier or later, so the time to harvest the muong muong is also different.

According to Ms. Mai, green cycads are found in many northern provinces, especially the Northwest region because of the large rice growing area. However, her store mainly buys cycads from some provinces such as Ninh Binh and Thanh Hoa.

Green mulberry is considered a "rare and hard to find" specialty.

Normally, green sedge moths are sold for 600,000 - 800,000 VND/kg, depending on the time. At peak times, the quantity of sedge moths exploited is not much, the price can be up to a million VND per kilo.

Of which, live water spinach is priced higher than frozen water spinach by 150,000 - 200,000 VND/kg. Ms. Mai shared: "Water spinach is expensive because it is quite rare, it cannot be farmed yet and can only be harvested from the wild.

Catching them is not simple, each person can only catch a few ounces or a few kilos, so I often have to collect from many households, over many days, to have enough to supply customers.

The spoon is prepared simply, when cooked, it does not need much seasoning to keep the original fatty and delicious flavor.

Although it is as expensive as lobster, green mullet is still sought after by many diners, who do not hesitate to spend money to have a specialty that reminds them of their childhood.

“Every year, when the season of water mimosa approaches, I have to order a month in advance to be able to buy a little. When there is a lot, I buy 1-2kg to freeze and eat gradually.

This year, due to heavy rain and floods, a lot of rice has fallen, so people in some places have to harvest early, so the amount of muom muom is also less," said Ms. Thanh Nga (in Hoang Mai, Hanoi).

According to Ms. Nga, muom muom can be processed into a number of delicious dishes such as grilled, fried, stir-fried with lemon leaves, etc.

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Crispy fried bamboo shoots sprinkled with lemon leaves

After buying the spoonbill, cut off the wings, antennae and legs so that it is not tough to eat. Before cooking, just wash it, process it and season it as desired.

When picking up the legs, wings and antennae of the spoonbill, they are still alive, so freezing them immediately will ensure freshness and deliciousness, without losing their rich, fatty taste.

Diners who have enjoyed the dish commented that this dish is richer and more fragrant than grasshoppers. Especially the crispy fried grasshopper, sprinkled with chopped lemon leaves, is considered a favorite drinking dish of men.

The duckweed is frozen while still alive to extend its shelf life, making it easier to transport to distant provinces.

However, like many other insects, mosquito larvae can easily cause allergies or, more seriously, poisoning, so diners need to be careful when using and processing them into food to ensure health and food safety.

Photo: Duong Thanh Mai

After a long time of eating Vietnamese food, the Korean guest 'couldn't put down his chopsticks' because it was so delicious . Returning to Vietnam after a long time, the Korean guest immediately went to eat the dishes that he missed the most when he returned home, including grilled pork vermicelli. This is a Vietnamese dish that is not available or quite rare in the land of kimchi.