Every year, when the season of rươi comes, the riverside ponds in the Red River Delta are bustling with people setting nets and shining lights to catch rươi.

Netting to catch worms

There are two main crops of earthworms each year. The summer-autumn crop is from September to November of the lunar calendar and the winter-spring crop is from March to May of the lunar calendar.

Mr. Nguyen Van Hung (An Lao, Hai Phong ) has been attached to earthworms since he was a child. According to him, earthworms in the seasonal crop are more abundant, small and firm. Earthworms in the seasonal crop are less abundant but larger, have more starch, and are cheaper than earthworms in the seasonal crop. Gourmets prefer earthworms in the seasonal crop to those in the seasonal crop.

Mr. Hung spreads nets to catch earthworms during the harvest season.

He said, when he was a child, when the water rose and there were earthworms, he and his friends in the neighborhood would take nets and go out to the river to catch them.

In his hometown many years ago, the sight of people wading through the water with nets to catch worms was no longer strange. Later, life became more modern, people had other ways to catch worms, so the scene of people flocking to collect worms no longer happened.

Mr. Hung’s house currently has a large pond. Every time there is a harvest of earthworms, he carefully prepares to “hunt” for this specialty. His secret lies in the system of water channels and nets. When the water rises, the earthworms follow the water flow into the pond, then crawl into the channels leading straight into the pre-set nets.

After 4-6 hours, he lifts the net again and pours out the worms. Some days, he collects dozens of kilograms of fresh worms. “I sell the worms right away after they are scooped up. Many people even come to the place, waiting to buy them.

“Rươi is a specialty that can be processed into many delicious dishes, many people like to eat it even though it is not cheap. Fresh rươi caught from the lagoon sells very quickly. If you cannot eat it in time, you can put the rươi in the freezer and take it out to process when you want to eat it,” he said.

Delicious food

Not only Mr. Hung, many other farmers like Mr. Nguyen Vinh also take advantage of the rươi season to increase their income. According to Mr. Vinh, in the right season, every family has a pond like his and Mr. Hung can harvest several hundred kilograms of rươi.

The price of rươi at the lagoon is from 250,000 - 280,000 VND/kg for rươi in the main season. The price of rươi chiem is cheaper, fluctuating around 200,000 VND.

The worms swim into the lagoon, following the current to the area where people set up nets.

After traders import and retail, the market price can reach 300,000-350,000 VND/kg, depending on quality and time.

For a long time, rươi has become a specialty in the cuisine of the Northern Delta. Dishes made from rươi such as rươi patties, rươi stewed with bamboo shoots, rươi kho… are not only delicious but also associated with memories of the homeland, associated with the life of the countryside people.

Ms. Thu (35 years old), from Hai Duong , currently living in Ha Dong, Hanoi, said that when she was a child, in the countryside, she often went to collect blood worms. Her favorite dish is fatty blood worms stewed with bamboo shoots, very delicious to eat with rice.

“After I went to the city to study and work, I could no longer collect the worms, but every time I went back to my hometown, my mother would pack them for me to bring to the city. I consider it a childhood dish, full of the flavor of my hometown,” she said.

Many people are afraid of earthworms because they look like worms and think they are difficult to prepare. But in fact, preparing earthworms is quite simple. The most important step is to beat the earthworms and then mix the ingredients and spices to prepare according to your preference.

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Net area for the worms to follow the flow into

Currently, the demand for consuming earthworms is increasing. Many restaurants and hotels have added earthworm dishes to their menus. This is also an opportunity for earthworm catching to develop further, bringing a stable source of income for people.

The specialty dish on the tray of offerings in Lang Son has a strange and delicious taste, and takes 5 hours to prepare . Not only does it have a strange name and attractive appearance, the specialty dish that often appears on the tray of offerings in Lang Son also attracts diners thanks to its delicious and rich flavor.

Source: https://vietnamnet.vn/chu-dam-giang-luoi-bat-con-nhieu-nguoi-so-nhung-la-dac-san-dat-tien-an-ngon-2410234.html