In Vietnam, yellow ant nests, which can be found easily in mountainous areas, are turned into famous dishes by locals.

Cao Bang’s people use ant eggs to make ant egg cake, while Binh Dinh’s people treat guests with ant egg salad. And when visiting Gia Lai, people are surprised to see yellow ant salt made from the body of ants as well. 

Ant salt is made of the carcasses of yellow ants that usually nest on high trees and from some other types of spices, such as salt, chilli and then len leaves.

It is not difficult to create this kind of salt, but it requires meticulous care in all stages, from cleaning ants to mixing the ingredients together

Yellow ants nest in the forests, on tree leaves and on the ground. However, the most delicious ants are the ones from trees.

It is difficult to collect ants in the forests. Not many people can do this, except the indigenous people who are familiar with the mountainous terrain. 

People have to wade into the deep forests with a long rod to catch yellow ants. The large nests of yellow ants are always located high on trees and ‘ant hunters’ have to climb the trees to collect the nests. Experienced ‘hunters’ know when there are many ant eggs in the nests.

After collecting the nests, they bring the nest home and clean it with water to clear impurities (sand, spider’s web and tree leaves). After that, they toast the ants on hot pan to make the ants crispy and fragrant before mixing the ants with salt.

Finally, they pound the ants. Their characteristic sourness must blend well with other ingredients to create a very unique flavor. In addition to yellow ants, the special salt must include salt, chilli and seasoning powder.

The salt used must be salt grain. It is the ‘soul’ of the spice. The chilli and salt grain must be mixed in a reasonable ratio to create a balanced flavor. Moreover, the then len leaves, a kind of leave which is only found in the Central Highlands, is also an important ingredient.

Yellow ant salt can be used like pepper fried salt – for dipping food in salt. There are many things that can be eaten with the salt, but the best dish is grilled meat.

Culinary experts say that in addition to the original flavor, ant salt has high nutritional value. The specialty provides high level of protein and 28 amino acids necessary for human body. 

Hanh Nguyen