Referring to the countryside of Ben Tre Vietnam, people immediately think of the peaceful countryside with delicious coconut candy. Not only that, there is also a specialty dish that is not always available and not everyone dares to enjoy it, which is “Ben Tre coconut worms”.
By Thomas Vietnam at vemekong.com | All Best Foods & Restaurants in Ben Tre
1. Better to Know as a Food Lover
Find them: Ben Tre city.
Best time: Dusk-Dawn
Don’t miss: Coconut Worm
Local’s pick: Coconut flower restaurant
Tourist’s pick: Coconut Worm restaurant in Ben Tre
Blog: https://vemekong.com/coconut-worm-ben-tre/
Facts: In addition, there are also dishes from “Dung Dinh worms” (on Dung Dinh tree), “Cha la worm” (on cha la tree) which are also very delicious and attractive. Why don’t you come here and enjoy these unique and special dishes?
2. Better to Know Coconut Worm
Coconut worms in Ben Tre in the past were one of the rustic dishes and were rich in nutrients. One can find these coconut weevils in coconut trees. During the breeding season, weevils often choose healthy coconut trees to cut out the tops to produce eggs. The eggs hatch into larvae, then develop and eat coconut tubers to survive. Today, coconut worms have become one of the most precious dishes of culinary connoisseurs.
By the time the bud falls horizontally, it is also the time when weevils are in the coconut tree a lot, if you put your ear to the coconut body, you will hear the weeds rumbling inside. Cut the coconut body out, each one lies a hole. Each large, strong coconut tree has about 50 to 100 weevils. People choose the right time to cut coconuts and catch fat, round weevils. Each worm should be as big as a thumb, the winged ones are also edible and delicious.
These fat, roundworms, under the skillful hands of the Ben Tre people, produce wonderfully delicious dishes that everyone wants to enjoy once. Compared with other insect dishes such as locusts, scorpions, ants, bugs, spiders, eggplants, beetles, etc., it also makes you admire its characteristic delicious taste. Grilled coconut or charcoal grilled worms are the most favorite dishes of the locals. In addition, eating raw will retain the nutrients in it. To make it easier to eat, people can soak the worms with flour and then deep-fry them, which is also very greasy and easier to eat, can be eaten with herbs, chili is also very protein. Steamed worms with sticky rice are both flexible and fragrant, and porridge cooked with delicious coconut milk are also dishes that are enjoyed by locals and tourists from all over the world.
3. Coconut Worm in Ben Tre
Coconut worms are a popular dish, but now they are rare and very expensive. It is not always possible to catch such round fat coconut worms. Even the old farmers who work in the fields and gardens in their life can only enjoy this dish a few times. Legend has it that the specialty dish of coconut worms grilled with charcoal fire in the South was presented to the court of the Nguyen Dynasty, under the reigns of Empress Dowager Tu Du and Queen Nam Phuong. Many culinary experts have likened coconut worm larvae to the “cormorant worm” that Queen Mother Tu Hy treated to Western emissaries.
Binh Dinh people also soak coconut worms with fish sauce before breading and then frying. This dish from coconut worms is passed on by people here and looking for new ways of processing coconut worms – Vietnamese specialties so that they have the best taste.
4. How to Make Food from Coconut Worm
How to prepare coconut weevils before making delicious dishes:
– Step 1: Catch each coconut weevil and put it in the basket. Attention: when catching coconut weevils, catch each one, when holding too many in your hand, you may be bitten by the coconut weevils
– Step 2: Carry out cleaning the body of coconut worms: Put the coconut worms in a bucket of clean water for about 2-3 minutes and then take out the coconut worms, soaking in water will help wash away the oily layer that is still stuck on the body of the worm. coconut.
– Step 3: Clean the inside of the coconut worm: Mix a cup of white wine or mix a cup of salt water and then put the coconut worm in the cup for about 4-5 minutes. You will see each coconut weevil swimming around in it. This will help the coconut worm to clean the dirt inside the body
How to prepare delicious dishes from coconut worms as follows:
Making salad
The salad is made from coconut tofu (the youngest bud is in the middle of the coconut tree) sliced lead, thinly sliced bell peppers, sliced green onions combined with lobster meat, and crispy shrimp cakes. All the above-mentioned pre-processed ingredients are mixed in spices such as mustard, vinegar, olive oil, arranged on a plate and about ten fried golden coconut worms on top.
Bath with fish sauce
This is also a raw dish, people also call it “river wading” because of the fat, plump worms swimming in a bowl of spicy chili fish sauce. Due to eating raw, many guests are not brave enough to try, but the dish has a high nutritional content. Pick up a wiggly worm and put it in your mouth, chew it slowly so that the nutrients in the worm spread in your mouth, you will feel the sweet taste, both like egg yolk and like cheese. taste.
Boiled coconut water
After being boiled with fresh coconut water, it is very fragrant and fatty, and is enjoyed by rolling it with some herbs, sandwiched in rice paper, dipping in fish sauce mixed with lemongrass and minced chili.
Porridge
Porridge is simply composed of weevils, pork, rice, ginger, scallions and spices, and coconut milk. Particularly for coconut worms, people wash them with cold water, then put them in a cup of white wine for 2 minutes, then put in a cup of chili fish sauce for a few minutes, then take them out and put them in the refrigerator. This process helps to clean the coconut worms, infuse the spices and help the coconut worms when cooking will not be broken. This nutritious dish is often used to improve health and increase vitality.
Deep fried dough
After preliminary cleaning, put a few peanuts into the worm’s body, roll over a mixture of flour, tapioca starch, chicken eggs, a little crushed pepper, salt, fry until golden brown in a pan, then turn over butter. for golden aroma. After frying, drain the fat, sandwich it with raw vegetables to eat less.
5. Pro tips:
Here are our tips for easing your mind (and stomach) around food-handling environments that you may not be used to.
Make sure the food is freshly cooked. If you’re eating hot street food, it’s always safest (not to mention more delicious) to eat food you can see being cooked to order.
Look for lines and busy stalls. Busy street food stalls are an indicator of popularity, and their high turnover rate means the food is never sitting out for hours and developing dreaded bacteria. Yes, long lines can be discouraging when you’re hungry after a full day of exploring, but it’s not worth the risk of grabbing precooked food from the empty spot next door.
Eat when the locals are eating. The last and most important element here is when to eat. You’re likely already on a weird eating schedule while you’re traveling, but it’s important to try and adjust to the eating times of where you are. A bowl of pho might be lunch for Americans, but it’s breakfast for the Vietnamese. This ensures that you’re eating freshly cooked food and that you can find the best and most popular places to eat.
If you can’t drink the water, then you can’t eat the salad. Most people get so hung up on not drinking the water or skipping ice in drinks that they don’t think about all of the other ways in which water is used in food service. Fruits and vegetables tend to be washed with tap water in most places, rather than the filtered water that locals drink—or sometimes it’s not washed at all. If you’re really craving some produce, try fruits you can peel or cooked veggies.
Trust your gut. If you’re unsure about the food or the way that it’s being prepared, then keep moving. Eating street food all over the world doesn’t make you an expert. Every stall and every country are different, and sometimes the rules can be harder to follow. When something doesn’t look, smell, or feel right, don’t eat it! Trust your judgment. Chances are that there’s another spot close by that’s making something more delicious.
Must-Eat Foods & Restaurants in Can Tho: Co Ut’s Cong cake, Ut Dzach Fine Rice Vermicelli, Thanh Van Grilled Pork Sausage, Crab Noodle Soup At Floating Market, Scorched Rice with Caramelized Fish Sauce, 7-Toi’s Duck Meat Pancake, Banh Mi Thuy, Banana Blossom Salad, Fried Spring Rolls, Fresh Spring Rolls, Fetal duck egg (balut), Honeycomb Cake, Mini Sticky Rice Cake, Cassava Silkworm Cake, Grilled Banana Wrapped in Sticky Rice, Khmer-style Bun Goi Da Soup, Egg Coffee, Con Son Grilled Snakehead Fish, Bun Mam – Fermented Fish Noodle Soup, Lau Mam – Fermented Fish Hotpot, Grilled Snails with Pepper, Magenta Sticky Rice Cake, Duck cooked with Fermented Tofu, Rice Noodle Pizza, Vegetarian Noodle Soup, Snails Stuffed With Pork…
Must-Eat Foods & Restaurants in Chau Doc: Chau Doc Fish Noodle Soup, Sugar Palm Fruit, Basa Fish Hot Pot, Mam (Fermented fish), Phu Huong Beef Noodle Soup, Broken Rice with Pork Chop, Long Xuyen Broken Rice, Nui Cam Pancake, O Thum’s Chicken Grilled with Lime Leaves, Stir-fried Shrimp with Sesbania Flower, Sweet & Sour Soup with Siamese Mud Carp Soup & Sesbania Flower, Caramelized & Braised Catfish, Grilled Rice-field Rat with Salt and Chili…
Must-Eat Foods & Restaurants in Soc Trang: Pia Cake, Cong Cake (Banh Cong), Bun Nuoc Leo Soc Trang’s Noodle Soup, Soc Trang’s Bun Goi Da Soup, Duck Noodle Soup with black Pepper, Curry Noodle Soup, Grilled Beef on Tile, Khmer-style Tube Cake, Khmer-style Mung Bean Cake (Banh In), Dried Radish (Xa Bau), Stir-Fried Noodles with Seafood (Mi Sua), Soc Trang’s Green Rice Flakes…
Must-Eat Foods & Restaurants in Ben Tre: Phu Le Rice Wine, Ben Tre’s Coconut Candy, Flat Banana, Coconut Rice, Snail Pancake, Sea Snail with Coconut Milk, Coconut Worm, Young Coconut Salad with Shrimp & Pork, Son Doc Puff Rice Paper…
Must-Eat Foods & Restaurants in Cai Be: Puffed Rice Cake…
Must-Eat Foods & Restaurants in Vinh Long: Elephant Ear Fish (fried giant gourami)…
Must-Eat Foods & Restaurants in My Tho: Fried Sticky Rice, Snakehead Fish Rice Porridge, Hu Tieu My Tho (Noodle Soup), Coconut Banana Cake…
Must-Eat Foods & Restaurants in Tra Vinh: Macapuno Coconut, Bun Nuoc Leo Tra Vinh’s Noodle Soup, Tra Cuon’s Sticky Rice Cake…
Must-Eat Foods & Restaurants in Sadec: Sa Dec Noodle Soup, Sadec Crab Hotpot, Lai Vung Spring Rolls, Sa Giang Shrimp Puff Pastry, Lai Vung Tangerine…
Must-Eat Foods & Restaurants in Bac Lieu: Spicy Beef Noodle Soup, Bac Lieu’s Three-striped Crab, White Radish Pies, Bac Lieu Thick Noodles & Creamy Coconut Milk, Bon Bon Pickles…
Must-Eat Foods & Restaurants in Ca Mau: Banh tam ga cay (Silkworm rice cake with curried chicken), Grilled Vop clams with salt and pepper, Grilled Mudskipper Fish, Stone Crab Roast With Salt, Young Bee Salad, Nam Can’s Crab, U Minh Forest’s Honey, U Minh’s Fermented Fish Hotpot…
Must-Eat Foods & Restaurants in Hau Giang: Cau Duc Pineapple, Cai Tac’s Pork Organs Porridge, Hau Giang’s Bronze Featherback Fish Cake…
Must-Eat Foods & Restaurants in Ha Tien: Herring Fish Salad, Spider crab cake soup, Ken Noodle soup, Xoi Xiem (Siamese sticky rice), Steamed Noodle soup, Ha Tien Oyster porridge…
Must-Eat Foods & Restaurants in Rach Gia: Stir Noodle Soup, Kien Giang Fish Noodle Soup…
Must-Eat Foods & Restaurants in Con Dao: Bang nut jam, Vu Nang Snail, Roasted Pork Bread (Banh Mi), Coconut Ice Cream…
Must-Eat Foods & Restaurants in Phu Quoc: Phu Quoc Sim Wine, Phu Quoc Pepper, Phu Quoc fish sauce…
Hopefully, the above tips will help you to come up with a great plan for your adventure in Mekong River Delta, Vietnam. Have a safe trip!
“Sleep less, travel more, respect more” – Thomas Vietnam – Local travel expert.
Thank you
