Ant’s egg cakes - a specialty of the Tay people in Tuyen Quang

Ant’s egg rice cakes.

The main ingredients for ants’ egg cakes include high-quality glutinous rice, ants’ eggs and fig leaves.

To make the cakes, glutinous rice is soaked in water for two hours and then ground into a powder with a mortar and pestle. The powder is kneaded into small balls and filled with a mixture of ant eggs, fried dried onion, salt and pepper.

Next, the dumplings are wrapped in fig leaves. Once wrapped, the dumplings are steamed for 30-45 minutes.

The dish is full of protein and other nutrients with a special fragrance, attracting a lot of diners.

Tien Chien