When it comes to ants, you immediately think of ant relatives such as black ants, red ants, black ants, sewing ants, black ants, etc. However, some types of ants commonly used to make medicine and dishes are black ants and yellow ants. So is it okay to eat ants? Let’s learn in detail through the article below to learn about unique dishes made from ants!
Is it okay to eat ants?
According to Oriental medicine, ants have a salty taste. spicy and slightly toxic. They also have the effect of clearing heat, detoxifying, and draining and are often used in the treatment of snakebites, painful and swollen boils.
Moreover, ant eggs have a fatty taste and are often used to replenish energy, which is very good for the body. Currently, in some countries, ant eggs are used in the treatment of hypogonadism in men, thus leading to long and beautiful life.
So is it okay to eat ants? – In fact, people often use black ants and yellow ants to combine dishes with many useful uses such as:
- Black ants: contains about 40 – 675 proteins including many types of amino acids, including 8 irreplaceable substances. Scientists say that there are many types of insects that can be used as medicine, including black ants that are very good at making medicine.
- Yellow ants: are not only known to have the effect of eliminating harmful pests but also protecting fields and gardens. Moreover, yellow ants are also used by many highland people to prepare as a spice in a dish.
Unique dishes made from ants that you should try
Dish from black ants
- Cure women with low milk production after giving birth: Black ants stewed with tofu or combined with some vegetables and fruits to make a nutritious dish to treat the disease.
- Treatment for people with weakness: 500g black ant eggs, 2 chicken eggs, 20g onions, 10g wine, 20g broth, 10g ginger, cereal powder and pepper. After marinating, steam for about 20 minutes. (you can stir-fry or steam).
- Cure arthritis, rheumatism, chronic hepatitis: Take black ants and wash them and stir-fry them with luffa or take black ants to soak in oil (can be soaked in castor oil or bean oil) for a period of time. Then parachutesng to massage to treat arthritis, rheumatism or chronic hepatitis.
Black ant eggs are often eaten in sticky rice by the northern mountainous peoples every day as a tonic and to increase physical strength. Furthermore, many women believe that eating a lot of black ant eggs will make their skin more beautiful, smoother and brighter.
In addition, ant eggs are a source of protein-rich food. However, ant eggs can cause allergies in people who are sensitive to arginine, proline, and histidine. Besides, the living environment of ants is in damp places, in mountains and forests, so it is easy to have many parasites and bacteria that are harmful to the body.
Some unique dishes made from weaver ants
In many Vietnamese provinces, dishes made from weaver ants are considered local specialties, bringing The feeling of delicious yet nutritious food makes many tourists curious and excited. Therefore, if you have the opportunity to travel locally, don’t miss out on enjoying these unique dishes!
Bay Nui Beef grilled with yellow ants
To make this dish, people will choose a fresh piece of beef, then use a pole to place the beef on the yellow ant nest in the area. on the tree. Wait for the ants to eat most of the beef, then cut the meat into pieces and grill. When eating grilled beef with yellow ants, it is very tender and succulent. In addition, you can combine it with salt and pepper to make the dish more flavorful.
Golden Ant Hotpot
This is a specialty of the An Giang region, so many tourists are very curious about this dish as it originates from Cambodia.
Ingredients to prepare are weaver ants, chickens or cows, ducks; beef sauce, macadamia leaves, ginger leaves,..
After you prepare all the ingredients, start washing the ants thoroughly. Vegetables and meat are cut into small pieces and placed in the hot pot. Furthermore, to have a unique flavor with the yellow ant hot pot, the yellow ants and beef sauce are indispensable to enhance the flavor. That’s why the ingredients and spices have their own secret, hThe taste of weaver ant hotpot is very special.
Kien Vang’s salted beef with yellow ants
As a specialty of the Krong Pa plateau in particular and Gia Lai in general, yellow ant’s salted beef with yellow ants is known as a special dish that anyone who has the opportunity to come to Gia Lai and you should enjoy every time you have the opportunity to visit here. To make this typical dish, people will often choose the thigh and corn of a young cow. Then, marinate it with spices like chili, lemongrass, etc. and dry the beef in the sun for 1 day. At this time, the meat will tighten and the meat will have a beautiful reddish brown color.
Furthermore, to make the beef more flavorful, it is indispensable to use weaver ant salt. From January to March every year, people will go to the forest to hunt for weaver ants. They will soak the weaver ants in water and begin roasting them with salt, chili, and another type of forest leaf.
The young beef is soft and has a sweet taste in the mouth. When grilled, the meat combined with weaver salt creates a sour and spicy flavor that is delicious after enjoying.
Papaya pounded with yellow ants
Papaya pounded with yellow ants is a quite familiar dish in the daily cuisine of the Ede people. After catching ants and washing with water to remove impurities. After that, the weaver ants will be mixed with shredded papaya, seasoned with a little salt and chili powder for flavor.
The crunchy taste of the salad combined with the spiciness of chili powder or the salty taste of salt and the characteristic sourness of ants gives it a very special flavor. An extremely interesting point about the dish of pounded papaya with ants is that it has the effect of eliminating alcohol and cooling very effectively. Therefore, Ede people often eat this dish after returning from working in the fields or from festivals in the village.
The above information will hopefully help you know more about some unique dishes about ants as well as answer the question Is it okay to eat ants. However, not all types of ants can be combined with some dishes, such as stink ants, fire ants, etc., which will affect your health if you eat them. Therefore, to be safe for the health of you and your family, please research and learn about the types of ants when combining with dishes!
Kim Dung
