Dishes from ant eggs

Delicious dishes from ant eggs are one of the long-standing culinary culture of ethnic minorities in Cao Bang.
Although there are many species of ants in the forest, but only the eggs of one ant species can be eaten. This ant species is three or four times bigger than the ants that we often encounter, has a brown body, black belly, and nests. on the trees, behind, after, gloves…

The dishes made from ant eggs are very diverse, in which, 3 dishes from ant eggs are the most popular and delicious, including: sticky rice with ant eggs, ant egg cake and ant egg mannequin. Sticky rice with ant eggs: is a dish made from glutinous rice, with added fat, onions, pepper, spices and ant eggs. The method is quite simple: Take the glutinous rice and wash it, soak it in warm water for about 4-5 hours, take it out to let the rice drain and then put it in the pantry. When you see the aroma of sticky rice, taste it soft, the rice grains are soft and succulent. Sauteed onions with fat (using chicken fat will create the most delicious flavor), then, add the cleaned ant eggs and stir-fry, seasoning to taste. Stir well when you see the fat aroma of ant eggs and the aroma of onions. When the sticky rice is cooked, stir it up, mix it with the ant eggs and then put it on a plate and eat it hot. The sticky rice with ant eggs has the fatty taste of fat, onions, the richness of ant eggs, and the fragrant plasticity of sticky rice. Ant egg cake. Ant egg cake: In the Tay language, it is called “pong nay”, a unique dish made from glutinous rice flour, ant eggs, and minced pork. In particular, there is an indispensable ingredient when making ant egg cake is fig leaves, which the Tay call “bà naa”. Choosing leaves to make cakes must choose the type of cake leaves, neither too young nor too old. When making cakes, you must choose small leaves that will be more fragrant and soft than the big ones. Glutinous flour can be made from dry flour or wet flour, mixed with a little flour so that the cake is not pasty or too flexible. After the dough is drained, mix it with a medium amount of soup powder. Place fig leaves in a thin bamboo mat to make cake, then thinly slice the previous layer of dough about half an inch thick. Next is the fried ant eggs with onions, minced pork spread evenly on the surface of the dough, then add a layer of glutinous rice flour, fig leaves on top. Gently press the cake to make it even and then steam it. When the cake is cooked, take it out to cool, use scissors to cut into squares just right to eat. The ant egg cake is flexible, fragrant with the smell of fig leaves, fatty and greasy with the smell of ant eggs. When eating, do not peel off the fig leaves, but the fig leaves are the factors that create the unique flavor of the ant egg cake. Ant egg salad. Ant egg salad: Made from ant eggs with banana flowers, it is very delicious and attractive. Prepare banana flowers with young sheaths washed, thinly sliced, soaked in water mixed with vinegar, then picked out and drained. Stir-fried ant eggs are mixed with banana flowers, mixed with herbs, lemongrass leaves and spices like sugar, salt, garlic… Eating this dish, you will find it spicy, acrid, sour, sweet and salty. The crispiness of banana flowers is mixed with the fragrant, fatty taste of ant eggs.