Wild termite mushrooms have a soft, chewy texture, are very sweet, and are rich in nutrients.
In the old days, land was vast and the population sparse. In every plot of land, every village still had areas of overgrown wasteland, where weeds grew naturally, with many dry branches and decaying leaves—favorable places for termite mushrooms to thrive. But even then, termite mushrooms weren't abundant; they weren't a marketable commodity. There were only enough for families to see them on their dinner table a few times a year, and each time was a joyous occasion.
Nowadays, naturally grown termite mushrooms are becoming increasingly scarce, to the point of being rare. The rarer they are, the more valuable they become, sought after by upscale restaurants, making them even more expensive. So much so that a country mother who manages to pick a few hundred grams one morning, too scared to show it to anyone, nervously carries her basket to the market, only to have it snatched up by connoisseurs before she even sits down. Well, at least she can trade it for a few kilograms of pork, enough to feed the whole family for a week. Due to market demand, in recent years, cultivated termite mushrooms have appeared on farms or small-scale farms, but, aside from quality, quantity is still limited, and the price remains unaffordable for the average person.
Despite its familiarity, the termite mushroom still holds many mysteries for generations of people living in this Southern Vietnamese land. Mysteries range from its name to the way it appears, where it appears, and how people discover and harvest it…
It is well known that, every year, about a month after the rainy season, and most abundantly before and after the Dragon Boat Festival (the fifth day of the fifth lunar month), termite mushrooms will sprout in dry but shady, airy places with many dry branches and decaying leaves, and where few people walk. "It will, but it's not certain." Because while hundreds or thousands of locations meet these conditions, termite mushrooms only choose a few specific places to appear, and no one can be sure exactly where. To explain this mystery, generations have passed down the story that termite mushrooms only grow where there are termite nests underneath, because termites give birth to mushrooms – hence the name. This sounds plausible, and even more so when you eat termite mushrooms with a subtle hint of... termite flavor.
That makes sense, but it's not necessarily true, because science has proven that one species cannot give birth to another, much less an animal giving birth to a plant (let's consider mushrooms as plants for now). In fact, there are countless locations with termite mounds that have never had termite mushrooms. Nowadays, when cultivating this specialty, people use termite mushroom spores inoculated into substrate bags; no one ever brings termite mounds into a mushroom house. Experienced people from previous generations also passed down the knowledge that when searching for termite mushrooms, one must carefully observe everywhere, but pay particular attention to locations where termite mushrooms have appeared in previous years, as this is the most likely place. If there were mushrooms last year, it's not certain they will appear next year, or perhaps in the years after that, or even just a few steps away. Could termite mushroom spores from the underside of dying mushroom caps still be clinging to the soil? – it's quite possible!
It's unknown how long the termite mushroom "sprout" stays underground, but termite mushrooms usually choose the coolest time of day, from 3 to 5 a.m., to emerge from the soil, a phenomenon known as "earth-cracking mushrooms." At this time, if you look closely, you'll see small, serrated cracks in the ground (similar to the cracks left by aphids or peanut sprouts), inside which are tiny, grayish-white mushroom stalks about the size of a chopstick tip, with the cap still tightly enclosing the stem.
Emerging from the ground as a "bud" with a grayish-white color that gradually darkens towards the tip, termite mushrooms grow rapidly upon contact with the air. Their stems become as thick as an adult's little finger, and the caps begin to open, a process known as "mushroom blooming." A few dozen minutes later, the caps fully open, the spores fall back to the ground, and as the sun rises, the stems become limp, the caps droop, marking the end of a growth cycle lasting no more than five hours. They will return the following year after the rainy season. When only a few mushrooms grow together, they are called "orphan mushrooms," but if there are many in an area the size of a mattress or larger, it's considered a "termite mushroom colony." A single mushroom is small and delicate, but if you're lucky enough to find a large "termite mushroom colony," you can harvest a kilogram or more – truly a case of "mushrooms as numerous as... termites."
The most visually appealing, delicious, and nutritious termite mushrooms are those in their "bud" stage, which is why families in my hometown often go searching for and picking them before the sun rises. If you go a little early, the mushrooms haven't yet broken through the soil, and you won't find any even if you search hard; if you go a little late, the mushrooms have withered, and no one will take them even for free.
Back then, there were no electric lights anywhere, and flashlights were rarely seen; every house was dimly lit by oil lamps. Around four o'clock in the morning, here and there in the sparsely populated groves of trees, the flickering light of oil lamps would shine back and forth. A gust of wind would blow the lamp out, making the children so scared they would tremble, holding their breath, waiting for the adults to light the lamp with a match. The mushrooms were tiny, hidden among dry branches and decaying leaves, and in the pitch-black night, the dim light made them difficult to spot, even for the sharpest eyes. Sometimes, the adults walking ahead would be blind, but the children following behind would spot them. Sometimes, the whole family would return disappointed, only to find a neighbor passing by a few minutes later. There were also cases where several families passed by and returned empty-handed, only to find a whole "nest of termite mushrooms" withered and decaying by morning—a heartbreaking sight. Therefore, the older generations believed that "termite mushrooms are like ghosts; only those with weak spirits will encounter them, while those with strong spirits will be avoided!" In the family, the father and the grown sons were considered "strong-spirited," so the task of searching for and picking termite mushrooms was almost exclusively reserved for women and us children. Therefore, every year after the rainy season, from the time the rooster crowed twice, I would hear my father remind my mother:
- You and the kids should stay awake, go to the oil palm grove, shine a flashlight, and see if the termite mushrooms have sprouted yet!
With little luck, when we were fortunate enough to find a "termite mushroom nest," my mother and I would squat down, our mouths agape, all our eyes focused on the flickering lamplight, carefully plucking each mushroom stem intact from cap to base, then gently placing them in the bamboo basket we carried. Back then, throughout the villages of Southern Vietnam, land was vast and sparsely populated; the boundaries of each house's land were merely conventions, not fences, and neighbors could freely roam on each other's land. If we found a "termite mushroom nest" and spoke loudly, neighbors would step over to help pick some, and no one would stop them! It was better if, in the morning, seeing too many mushrooms in the basket, my mother would send a child with a cheerful smile to the next house as a "small gift, to share," as a gesture of goodwill. But when we were searching for termite mushrooms, no one ever invited another family to share.
After harvesting the termite mushrooms, everyone in the family, young and old, takes a small knife and gently scrapes off the soil from the mushroom stems. This is the most labor-intensive and time-consuming part of harvesting and processing straw mushrooms. Afterward, the mushrooms are placed in a large basin of water and gently washed repeatedly until thoroughly clean. Then, they are drained in a colander. Mushrooms that are still wet are very susceptible to rotting and becoming inedible. Those that can be eaten immediately are kept fresh, while those that need preservation are sun-dried until wilted, then stored in a cool, shady place, and can be kept for up to a week. Nowadays, it's more convenient; women simply stir-fry the mushrooms until they are slightly wilted, then put them in a sealed container and store them in the refrigerator to prevent spoilage.
Natural termite mushrooms have a soft, chewy texture, are very sweet, and are rich in nutrients, so there are many ways to prepare them, and they are all delicious. The most popular methods include termite mushroom soup with mixed vegetables, stir-fried termite mushrooms with zucchini or onions and lard, and termite mushroom porridge…
In the old days, when termite mushrooms were abundant and cheap, stir-fries, soups, and porridges always had plenty of mushrooms and very little meat or vegetables. Now, just a few scattered mushrooms on the surface are enough to delight diners. There's another dish I still remember from decades ago: steaming a bowl of fermented snakehead fish sauce until almost cooked, then lightly spreading a layer of termite mushrooms on top, and covering it to let it cook thoroughly. When the steamed fish sauce was served, the mushrooms shriveled up, softened, and absorbed the sauce, creating a very distinctive flavor that made the whole family eat every last grain of rice in the pot.
In recent years, numerous medical studies have confirmed several valuable medicinal properties found in termite mushrooms. Naturally occurring termite mushrooms are cooling in nature, non-toxic, and rich in micronutrients such as calcium, phosphorus, and iron. They are also highly nutritious and beneficial for the elderly and those recovering from illness. Furthermore, according to traditional Chinese medicine, regularly consuming termite mushrooms can improve immunity, fight cancer cells, combat aging, and lower blood sugar levels. Notably, termite mushrooms are also beneficial for regulating menstruation in women…
During those years away from home, in my restless sleep, I seemed to hear my father's voice echoing, "Shine the lamp, see if the termite mushrooms have grown yet?"...
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