Eating Giant Larva

(PICTURE: Lunch.)


(PICTURE: The sign in front of Phi's dad's shop.)

While still waiting for the results of Huyen's physical, we thought the best thing to do would be to eat giant rare "palm cocoon" larva things. Long story short, Sebastian befriended a girl named Phi whose father owns a restaurant in Saigon that serves this very rare treat. This food is so rare that their total stock for the year is about three hundred larva.


(PICTURE: One third of the harvest. That's Phi on the right.)

Furthermore, only three restaurants in HCMC serve this food and only one in Hanoi. Phi told us that they aren't even sure where the larvas come from because the people who harvest it in the jungle keep it a secret. Supposedly the larva was eaten by the king to "keep his many wives happy." Yeah, it's larva Viagra...except that Thuy told us many parents bring their children to eat it because it's very healthy for kids.


(PICTURE: My wife serving me giant larva. Delicious.)

The price for one larva was 45,000 VND, or about $2.50. It definitely tasted better than it looked which isn't saying much. Huyen and I both ate one which was probably about ten times braver than climbing the wall the day before.