In Bay Nui region which consists of 7 mountains in An Giang province, a kind of beetle appears at the beginning of the rainy season. During this time, trees form their buds, beetles are born, grow and live in treetops. Khmer people in Bay Nui discovered that fried beetle is very exclusively delicious and very healthy. So that many local people from the young to the elderly have caught them and created a lot of unique and special beetle recipes. They usually a light to attract the beetles or fire cow/buffalo shit to create a smoke which makes the beetle fall down from the trees.
The way of preparing beetle is similar to the way of preparing cricket, scorpion. Remove wings, legs, organs of beetle. Then wash with warm water mixed with some salt. To cook the famous Fried beetle, they marinate the beetles with sugar, ground black pepper, garlic for about 20 minutes, fry until crispy and smelling. Some prefer to fill the beetle stomach with a toasted peanut. The fried beetle with peanut looks plumpy, yellow, tastes crispy, greasy and smell great.
The dish is served with veggies, tomato, cucumber, a mixture of salt, lime juice, ground black pepper. The dish can scare you because of the ugly looking of the beetles. However, a great taste is hidden behind it. Fried beetle in Bay Nui is one of the most delicious food fear factors in Vietnam. There is no better than gathering with friends or family members, eating exotic Fried beetle and drinking some beer.
In Bay Nui, at the beginning of the rainy season, many people including children earn money by catching beetles every night. The beetles are sold at Tinh Bien, Van Giao, Nha Bang, Lam Vien markets. If you would like to buy some beetles, you should go to the market as early as possible.
