Ant eggs.

VietNamNet – Ant-egg pie is a speciality of the Tay ethnic group in northern Vietnam.

Tay people call the pie peng ray. It is made from rice flour, ant eggs and young Va tree leaves (bau ngoa). April and May is the best time to make peng ray, since it is the time that ant eggs are full of fat and protein.

The family of Dinh Van Toan, a resident of Khuoi Tit village, Tan Giang commune, Cao Bang province, has been making peng ray for years. His wife, Hoang Kim Tay, said: “I was taught to make peng ray by my parents-in-law. Peng ray is not a pie only, but a kind of cultural symbol of the Tay people”.

Toan said making peng ray is not easy, just a few families still keep producing it.

To make the pie, a person has to search in the forest for a kind of black ant. They live in nests in high trees and move fast.

An ant hunter uses a knife, a sharp twig and a bowl to harvest the eggs. When finding a nest, a hunter must work quickly so he will not be attacked by ants.

He holds the nest over his bowl and knocks on it, dislodging ants and eggs. Each nest brings a hunter a few cups of eggs. To get one or two kilos of ant eggs, a hunter must spend all day in the forest.

A pie maker then will put the eggs into a larger and flat basket, and rub them with a wet towel. Dirt and ants cling to the wet towel.

Makers clean Va leaves and cover the rice flour with them. The ant eggs are fried with spices and placed inside. The mix is then rolled and steamed.

Ant-egg pie is soft and sweet-smelling. It is available around this time of year in Cao Bang.

(Source: Nhan Dan)