Old A Blong introduces the dish of fish salad with yellow ants.
According to old man A Blong, a prestigious person in Le village, no one knows when the dish of fish salad with yellow ants appeared. The village elders and the elderly people of the Ro Mam ethnic group only know that this dish has appeared for a long time, since the time of their ancestors.
In the past, the Ro Mam people mainly lived in the forest, their lives were extremely hard and difficult. To have food to survive, the Ro Mam people often waded into streams to catch fish and climbed tree branches to pick yellow ant nests, then processed them into dishes, served with wild vegetables. Over many generations, the yellow ant salad fish dish gradually became a specialty of the Ro Mam ethnic group.
Yellow ant salad fish is a dish made from two main ingredients: fish and yellow ants. First, you have to choose the right type of fish. People here often go to Sa Thay river to catch white fish to process. If there is no white fish, you can use grass carp, red tilapia... To make a standard yellow ant salad fish dish requires many steps and the processor must be really meticulous.
The fish caught will be deboned, washed, minced and squeezed to remove the fishy smell, then marinated with spices, a little wild pepper and rice bran. For weaver ants, the locals will look for young ant nests with a large number of eggs to enhance the sweet flavor of the fish; the rich, sour taste of ant eggs will make the fish more fragrant when cooked, and will be rich and fatty.
After processing the stream fish, people continue to catch yellow ants, then drop them into the minced fish so that the ants secrete acid to cook the fish. When taking the ant nest down, first place a basin of water underneath and use the handle of a knife to gently tap it so that all the ants fall into the basin; then gently split the ant nest in half and take out the eggs separately. Yellow ant eggs are usually opaque white, about the size of a grain of rice, and have a light fragrance. Finally, the ant eggs are crushed and dried in the sun.
The final step is to season the fish and ants. The spices needed are salt, pepper, green chili and rice bran. After preparing all the spices, add a moderate amount of fish, ants and ant eggs to the mixture and mix well until you can smell the aroma.
Depending on each person's preference, there are many ways to enjoy the ant salad fish dish. This dish is often served with many types of wild vegetables such as Indian laurel leaves, fig leaves, young mango leaves... Large leaves are used as the wrapping layer and are rolled into a funnel shape, inside there are a few smaller types such as Vietnamese coriander to enhance the flavor. When you feel that the amount of leaves is enough, put the ant salad fish inside and roll it up. Thus, this famous Kon Tum specialty is completed.
Elder A Blong said that in recent years, with the attention of the Party and the State, the lives of the people of Le village have changed a lot, developing both materially and spiritually. Le village is actively preserving the culture of the Ro Mam people, including preserving traditional cuisine .
Nowadays, the villagers who are good at preparing traditional dishes are teaching the younger generation to preserve and promote the culinary values of their people. During important festivals of the village, fish salad with yellow ants always appears. This is a specialty dish that the Ro Mam people use to entertain distinguished guests.
Source: https://danviet.vn/ngon-la-ca-goi-kien-vang-la-dac-san-co-suc-hut-cua-nguoi-ro-mam-gom-ca-va-kien-vang-do-la-ca-gi-20240317230642087.htm
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