A mouthwatering dish of fried crickets and scorpions served in An Giang Province’s Tri Ton District

Scorpions and crickets may disgust or terrify some tourists but they make mouthwatering snacks.

The province also has many appealing specialties such as chao bo (beef porridge), banh canh ngot (sweet noodles) and bun ca Long Xuyen (Long Xuyen-style fish vermicelli).

However, those who are willing to try something strange can visit the province’s Tri Ton and Tinh Bien districts to try an original specialty - fried scorpions and crickets.

There are many markets that sell live scorpions to restaurants. In the mountains along the Tinh Bien border with Cambodia, people earn a living catching scorpions and selling them to dealers. Some restaurants buy the live scorpions direct, to cook fresh in a variety of dishes that could give you a sting.

Two of the most famous places offering scorpion are Loc and Nghe restaurants, located on Ngo Quyen Street in Tri Ton. Their most popular courses are scorpion fried with butter and cricket fried with peanuts. According to Do Thanh Thanh, the owner of Loc Restaurant, gourmets prefer live scorpions to frozen ones.

The special greasy flavor of scorpions is delicious. According to many scorpion gourmets, their belly is the most savory part and is more appetizing dipped in pepper, salt or soy sauce.

To accompany your meal, the restaurants also offer various wines from bottles containing scorpions. One corner of Xuan To border market has also become the special “scorpion bazaar” for sightseers. According to locals, scorpion is an effective remedy for many complaints like backache and joint pain. It costs only VND40,000 (US$2.40) per dish.

From HCMC, tourists can take National Highway 1A and go straight until they meet An Giang’s Long Xuyen Town. From Long Xuyen, just ask the way to Tri Ton and Tinh Bien.

Reported by Kim