Priced as expensive as king crab, this mushroom in Vietnam is a rare specialty that is hard to buy

Not painted oysters, but termite mushrooms of Vietnam are extremely expensive.
Western termite fungus is a specialty mushroom that is completely exploited in the wild, cannot be grown and usually only appears in gardens in underground termite nests. Notably, termite mushrooms only appear when the West enters the rainy season, that is, the termite mushroom season only lasts for a very short time from May to June of the lunar calendar.

It is said to be a “gift from heaven” as a “gift of the earth”, so the Western termite fungus on the market is extremely expensive in the market, up to 800,000-1,000,000 VND/kg, even at times the price is up to 1.5 million VND/kg. The termite fungus grows in forested areas and hills where termites reside. Depending on the weather, the termite mushroom season can last for 2-3 months. However, this fungus only grows around 3-4 am and needs to be harvested early in the day when the sun has not yet risen, otherwise it will fade or be damaged by termites. With drought often occurring in the West, the mushroom that was “rare and hard to find” is now more scarce. Ms. Thu Huyen, a seller of termite mushrooms in Ho Chi Minh City, said that this item is increasingly scarce, so traders and small traders compete fiercely for goods. So at the end of the season, the price is high, but when there are goods, customers take them all, there is no surplus. It is also because of the expensive price, so customers who want to buy this mushroom must deposit 50% in advance to get it. “This year, in addition to guests in Saigon, the number of guests outside of Hanoi ordered mushrooms quite a lot, some people ordered 3-4kg, waited half a month and still no mushrooms.” There are 2 sources of termite mushrooms for sale in Ho Chi Minh City: Eastern mushrooms and Western mushrooms with very different prices. Eastern mushrooms, mainly from Binh Phuoc, cost from 500,000 VND – 600,000 VND/kg (bud mushrooms) while Western mushrooms, especially Ben Tre mushrooms, cost up to 1.2 – 1.5 million VND/kg. According to Huyen, the reason for such a price difference is because the Ben Tre termite mushroom is fragrant, sweeter than other places thanks to alluvial soil, and the quantity is increasingly rare, so the price is increasing. However, recently, there has been a phenomenon that traders bring mushrooms from other places, mixed with mushrooms collected from the local to sell at high prices, buyers should pay attention to avoid buying wrong. The termite mushrooms can be cooked into many different dishes such as: stir-fry, grill, pour pancakes, cook porridge. If you buy a lot, you can store it in the refrigerator for about 1 week, if you want to eat it gradually, you must clean it, put it in a bag or box and then store it in the freezer, when eating. Just leave the mushrooms out, wait for them to freeze and cook, but don’t wash them because washing the mushrooms will lose nutrients. For many people, termite mushrooms are a gift from nature. This is considered “fortune heaven”, whoever finds mushrooms is considered lucky. (According to GiadinhNet)