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 of 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 water mites are considered to have the best quality, with fatty and fragrant meat. Depending on the locality, the rice season may be earlier or later, so the time to harvest the water mites is also different.

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

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

Normally, green sedges are sold for between 600,000 and 800,000 VND/kg, depending on the time. At peak times, the quantity of sedges harvested 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, currently it cannot be farmed but can only be harvested from the wild.

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

The bamboo shoots are prepared simply, and do not need much seasoning when cooked to keep the rich, delicious flavor.

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

“Every year, when the water mimosa season is near, I have to order a month in advance to be able to buy a little. When there is a lot, I buy 1-2 kg 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, water mites 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 the feet, wings and antennae of the spoonbill, they are still alive, so freezing them immediately will ensure freshness and deliciousness without losing their rich, fatty flavor.

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 prolong 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 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.