The story of the man who searched for termite mushrooms in Duc Linh

For nearly ten years in Duc Linh, “Going to eat mushrooms” has become a seasonal occupation. Some people consider mushroom hunting as a profession to earn income. Others consider it a hobby. Therefore, after the first rains of the season, people go looking for termite mushrooms as crowded as going to a festival.

Termite mushrooms grow abundantly in rubber forests and cashew plantations. Duc Linh has about 5,000 hectares of rubber and 7,500 hectares of cashew land, which are favorable places for termite mushrooms to grow. Mr. Toan - Mo is considered a fisherman and a professional termite mushroom eater. At the beginning of this season, right from the first few rain trees, he brought home a whole basket of torn mushrooms, weighing about 10 kilos of mushrooms, estimated to cost about 650,000 - 700,000 VND/kg at the beginning of the season. He sold half of them, and gave the other half to people to eat for luck. That night, he organized a party with his friends to celebrate the beginning of the termite mushroom season.

Not being able to meet Toan, I met Quan, one of the termite mushroom enthusiasts who said: Toan is a meticulous, careful and professional person, very different from other mushroom hunters. He does not eat for a living. Last year's mushroom season, he encountered places where termite mushrooms grew. After picking the mushrooms, Toan took pictures, marked them, and recorded the date and time, secretly planning for the next season. Quan said that when digging for mushrooms, one must use a wooden stick. The most taboo is to use metal tools (knives, hoes, shovels, etc.) because the termite mushrooms will not grow back there next year. Therefore, Toan takes great care with his termite digging tools. He has a whole collection of mushroom digging sticks made from all kinds of hard, smooth, comfortable and beautiful rosewood. When digging for mushrooms, one must not dig too deep, as this will damage the soil layer where termite mushrooms grow. To prepare for the new season of termite mushrooms, he often visits the marked places. Sometimes he covers them with dry leaves so that they can rot on sunny days and rot when it rains, creating humus and moisture for the mushrooms to grow. Covering the leaves is also a way to keep the place where the mushrooms are a secret. When the first rains of the season begin, he starts visiting. So when no one knows where the mushrooms are growing, he already has the first harvest.

When the season officially begins, mushroom eaters and their families bring tents, hammocks, and instant noodles into the forest to watch and hunt. Termite mushrooms usually sprout at night, and by morning they are already several centimeters high. According to the sellers, there are three types of mushrooms: Nail mushrooms, which are the type of mushrooms that have just emerged from the ground, the best quality, the current price is about 600,000 - 700,000 VND/kg. Umbrella mushrooms: That is, the nail cap spreads out like an umbrella. This type costs 400,000 - 500,000 VND/kg. Blooming mushrooms, which are mushrooms that have fully bloomed, cost about 200,000 VND/kg. Because of the price and quality of mushrooms, people go into the forest early at night to look for them. Mr. Toan divides his family members into areas, and when they are harvested, he takes the opportunity to have someone bring them to the market immediately because the mushrooms bloom and wither after 24 hours and will lose value.

Quan said: many people think that the termite mushroom season is a month-long search, but there are actually 3 times when the mushrooms are in full bloom, the problem is knowing when to look. Experienced people often look for termite mounds, pry open a piece and look into the nest to see if there are tiny white termites, look at the dark glue streaks of saliva on the ground to know the yeast level and calculate the day the mushrooms will grow to wait.

Quan also said: That guy could smell the soil and mushrooms. It was pitch black at night, and while walking, my father suddenly stopped and sniffed the area of trees to guess whether there were termite mushrooms or not. Once, while having lunch, my father put down his bowl and stared at a millipede (the kind in the forest is as big as a water spinach stalk, different from the kind we usually see at home). I was bewildered and didn't understand anything. Toan said: Insects love mushrooms. Millipedes do too. They crawl and curl up at a certain spot, but you have to have experience and look at the soil. Tomorrow morning, if you check there, you will definitely find mushrooms. The next morning, following Toan's instructions, check the millipede spot, just as the god said...

Now it is mushroom season, both sides of the road at the Cay Sung intersection in Duc Hanh commune, the market behind Vo Dat church area, are bustling with buyers and sellers of termite mushrooms. People even wait in advance at the beginning of the su forest to collect goods to bring to Ho Chi Minh City to sell. Some people earn up to five or seventy million during the mushroom season.

There is no need to mention those who are skilled in the profession, but those who consider looking for termite mushrooms as a hobby, especially on this summer day, teachers who have free time also rush to find mushrooms. So at night, entering the rubber forest, the lights and the sound of people's vehicles going to eat termite mushrooms are bustling. There are hundreds of stories about people looking for mushrooms. Some people just keep their heads down to search with their lights, when they look up, they lose their direction. Some people get lost in Dong Nai . That's 20 kilometers, not a few. There are groups of people who get lost and can't find their way home, struggling to wait for the morning. When morning comes, they find themselves standing a few hundred meters from a residential area, so they hold their stomachs and laugh and then painfully go back into the forest to find where they hid their motorbikes. They have to go 7-8 kilometers. There is also the story of the bustling opening of the termite mushroom pancake festival. The men go out looking for termite mushrooms from the beginning of the night. The wives stay home to grind flour, prepare molds, stoves, charcoal, and things like vegetables and spices. When the men come back, it's okay. If there are no mushrooms, the ladies will rush to buy more to make up for the party. Termite mushroom pancakes are also a delicious dish. The sizzling sound of the pancakes, the loud voices of the men telling stories about finding mushrooms, and the voices of the children bustling around make a corner of the countryside happy...

There are many, many stories about eating mushrooms that make you laugh until you cry.

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