At 5am, when the fog was still covering the land, we followed Ms. Siu H'Tội (Mook Trel village, Ia Dom commune, Duc Co district) into the coffee plantation to pick mushrooms. While quickly raking through the layer of rotten leaves, Ms. H'Tội shared: "To pick delicious mushrooms, you have to go when it's still dark. At that time, the mushrooms have not yet bloomed, retaining their characteristic sweetness and crunchiness."
According to her experience, termite mushrooms usually grow at night, blooming at around 5-6 am and opening their caps within 3-4 hours. Therefore, mushroom pickers usually have to go at 3-4 am.
Termite mushroom, scientifically known as Termitomyces albuminosus, is a natural fungus belonging to the Lyophyllaceae family. Unlike other mushrooms that grow year-round, termite mushroom grows thanks to a special ecosystem around termite nests, where the soil is loose, rich in humus and has high humidity. Therefore, termite mushroom cannot be planted or propagated. The mushroom grows scattered around termite mounds, along forest edges, under the canopy of perennial coffee trees, pepper plantations or bushes with a thick layer of rotten leaves.
Termite mushrooms are ivory white or gray-brown in color; the stem is round, grows straight, the mushroom cap when not yet opened is pointed like a needle, and becomes more and more round like a small umbrella towards noon. The mushroom stem is deeply embedded in the soft soil, clinging tightly to the termite nest. When first grown, the mushroom is only about 3-5 cm high; after about 4-6 hours, the mushroom matures and is about 10-15 cm high, plump, with a crispy and fragrant stem.
Mushroom hunters often carry a small flashlight, a basket, a backpack to hold the mushrooms, and a sharp knife or a sharp branch to dig the mushrooms out of the ground without breaking the stem. After walking a few steps, Ms. H'Tuoi pointed to a small lump of soil rising among the rotten leaves, sharing her experience: "There are a lot of mushrooms there. After 2-3 days of rain, if you see small black or dark brown mounds of soil, the mushroom nest is about to emerge."
Freshly picked termite mushrooms have the pungent smell of moist soil mixed with the scent of young mushrooms. For the people of Gia Lai , termite mushrooms are a “heavenly gift” at the beginning of the rainy season. This mushroom is rich in calcium, phosphorus, iron, protein and many other nutrients that are good for health. Not only a dish, for the Jrai people, termite mushrooms are also a part of their memories, associated with the great rainy season.
Ms. Ro Cham Nhen (Dang village, Ia O commune, Ia Grai district) said: “Jrai people often take advantage of available vegetables in the garden such as squash, eggplant... or wild vegetables to process with mushrooms. When stir-fried with these ingredients, the mushrooms give off a sweet aroma, are crispy and delicious. We also often boil the mushrooms in plain water to keep the original sweetness, just add a few slices of chili and perilla leaves to enhance the flavor.”
For Ms. Nhen, for 25 years, termite mushrooms have been an indispensable dish in every meal of her family during the rainy season. “When I was young, after every heavy rain, my mother and aunts would go to the fields and forests at 4am to pick mushrooms to improve the meal. Even though it was cold and the roads were slippery, the mushrooms picked early in the morning were sweet and flavorful,” Ms. Nhen recalled.
In recent years, termite mushrooms have become scarce and hard to find. In the past, people could pick a basketful of mushrooms by walking along the edge of the forest, rubber plantations, or coffee plantations. Now, people have to wake up at dawn, wander deep into the forest or wasteland in hopes of finding a few small mushroom nests.
According to Ms. Nhen, the main reason is that the termite habitat is affected by the use of pesticides, herbicides and the reduction of forest land area. Termite mushrooms have therefore become a “rare commodity”. The villagers here jokingly call termite mushrooms “white gold of the rainy season” because of its value and rarity.
“Termite mushrooms will have different prices depending on the time. Where I live, the first harvest of termite mushrooms will be sold for 200-300 VND/kg. Towards the end of the season, the mushrooms will be scarcer so the price will be higher,” Nhen informed.
To preserve the natural ecosystem for termite mushrooms to continue growing, many families who often have termite mushrooms growing in their gardens have limited the use of pesticides. They leave the soil natural, waiting for the next rainy season for the mushrooms to grow again.
“I remember every place where mushrooms grow very well. Some nests grow year after year. The villagers tell each other that when they go to work on the fields, they must leave some behind, not encroach or destroy anything. Whatever belongs to the forest, the forest must nurture it,” Nhen shared.
Source: https://baogialai.com.vn/mua-san-nam-moi-post329607.html
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