Nearly half a million dong per kilogram cicada nymphs

Every early May, cicada nymphs, also known as young cicadas, are bought by many hunters, even though the price is up to more than 400,000 VND / kg.
According to the survey of Zing From the end of April, cicada nymphs began to be actively sold on online market forums. Normally, the buyer has to order in advance to have the product and on average a kg of cicada nymphs has a retail price ranging from 250,000 to 400,000 VND.

Ms. Tran Thuy, an account specializing in selling cicada nymphs in Hanoi, said this year the price of cicada nymphs has decreased compared to last year. “In 2020, there is a time when the price of cicadas up to 450,000-500,000 VND / kg, still not enough to sell, but this year the price of this item tends to be cheaper,” she said. According to her, from the end of April to the beginning of May, the cicadas are in the infancy stage and have not yet grown wings. “At this time, the nymphs are fat, soft, and fragrant,” Thuy said. In recent years, cicadas pupae have become a special specialty for many people as well as restaurants and pubs. Photo: Ha Tran. This dealer said that cicada nymphs each time in the season are very attractive to buyers, especially drinkers. “Many people buy a kilo to try and then order another 2.3 kg,” she said, saying that at the beginning of the season, the price is quite high, in the middle and the end of the season, the price will cool down. At her shop, type 1 vacuum cicadas pupae cost 400,000 VND / kg, type 2 costs 300,000 VND / kg. Explaining the reason why cicadas nymphs are quite expensive, she said: “Because the process of hunting cicadas is very complicated and takes a lot of time during the night, sometimes it takes to go all night to hunt one kg of nymphs, so there is a price. high”. Similarly, Ms. Bui Vinh (Dong Phu, Binh Phuoc) said that cicada nymphs at the beginning of the season have just molted, the cicada’s body is still very young and newly emerging wings are difficult to catch, so they are rare and high priced. “In the past, people mainly collected nymphs to eat, but gradually the market demand was increasing so they started to pupate them for sale,” she said. Ms. Vinh said that the cicadas that came from the ground up and clung to the tree trunk after 5-7 minutes will molt, then I just need to light the lamp and catch. After getting soaked in salt water for 20-30 minutes, then remove the wings, cover with boiling water once and rinse. “Every season, my neighbors and I go together to catch nymphs and sell to earn extra income. Just a flashlight and a bucket of clean water diluted with salt can go hunting nymphs,” she said. Currently a kg of cicada nymphs she sells wholesale prices ranging from 190,000 to 250,000 VND / kg, depending on the type and time. “Customers, pubs often have to pre-order to have products. Many days, I cannot sell enough goods,” said the trader. Cicada nymphs do quite a lot of delicious dishes that are loved by many people. Photo: Chu Hanh. Roasted cicada pupa with lemon leaves is a favorite dish every summer for many people drinking. “During a drink, I was introduced to this dish by a friend, so I became addicted since then, every year to season, I find people to order”, Mr. Dung (Thanh Xuan, Hanoi) shared. “One kg of young mite pupae is quite a lot, I buy 2.3 kg ready to divide into small bags for the refrigerator to eat gradually, each bag about 200-250 grams of processing up to be filled with a plate,” he said. Although it is a strange product sought by many drinkers, users should be careful when choosing, preliminarily processing and processing cicadas nymphs to avoid harm to their health. Before that, in May 2019 in Quang Ninh, a man was hospitalized with anaphylactic shock after drinking alcohol and eating cicadas. Doctors diagnose the patient with degree III anaphylaxis due to eating cicadas, emergency treatment according to anaphylactic shock regimen. Notably, a man in Binh Phuoc died from eating young cicadas in May 2014. According to some experts, cicada nymphs live in the soil environment, so there is a high risk of infection and parasitic fungus. In particular, some poisonous mushrooms are dangerous to users. Therefore, people should use caution.