Coconut worms used to be tasty food in the Mekong Delta region of Vietnam. However, coconut beetles can eat the young parts of coconut trees, reducing the strength of coconuts.
To help some guests who are curious to study coconut worms, we will introduce their features and some food that the locals used to make in the past.
1. What are coconut worms?
Coconut worms, also called coconut weevils or “Đuông dừa” in Vietnamese, are larvae of coconut beetles whose bodies are not yet fully developed, only as big as an adult’s index finger, about 3 to 5 cm long, and light yellow in their whole body.
The worms live in coconut trees and eat the youngest part of the plants, so they contain plenty of healthy proteins.
We can only find coconut weevils when the leaves on the top of the coconut are wilted and collapsed. In the Mekong Delta, especially in Ben Tre province, worms can eat many coconuts to death.
Usually, every year, after the mating season, coconut beetles often choose strong coconut trees to make holes in the tops to spawn eggs.
The eggs hatch and grow up thanks to eating young, soft, and nutritious coconuts. They eat the top of the coconut tree until it is pierced, causing the tree to become exhausted and die.
So, all coconut worms are full of milk, fat, round, and limp, making many people look a little frightened with their outside appearance.
2. The life cycle of coconut worm
The average life cycle of coconut worms is about 80 to 100 days, including:
- The egg period is 3-5 days,
- The larva is 50-70 days,
- The pupa is 15-20 days.
Coconut worms turn into beetles that can live up to 3-4 months. Both larvae and beetles can damage coconut trees, but larvae or worms are the main ones.
When eating young coconut tops, beetles make a noise inside the trees, like the sound of a rice mill.
To learn more about their life circle, we will introduce you to the details below! Please continue reading!
2.1. Egg stage:
Eggs are obtained by fertilization of male and female coconut beetles.
During the breeding season, the beetles make holes in the tops of trees and lay eggs there. After spawning, the female secretes gastric juice that helps create a hard layer around the eggs to protect them. On average, a female produces 210 eggs per nest.
Characteristics of coconut worm eggs: eggs are white, cylindrical or oval, glossy, about 1-2.5mm in size. The back of the egg has a unique structure that contributes to the supply of oxygen to the larvae.
2.2. Larval stage or worm stage:
Over time, the eggs will hatch into larvae. We call those larvae coconut worms or coconut weevils. At this stage, they eat and absorb nutrients inside the soft part of the coconut tree to develop and grow.
The top features of coconut worms are white and yellow without legs. The first stage is white, and they grow up to change into yellow. The body has segmentation with a small brown head. The maximum size is 5cm.
2.3. Pupae stage:
Coconut weevils grow up and eat from the young part of the coconut, slowly going deep into the trunk. By reaching adulthood, they enter the next development stage of the life cycle.
Along with the environmental conditions the coconut tree provides, the dry brown trunk or the branches are worn down into fibers, and the coconut weevil will create a cocoon around itself into pupae.
Many people start eating coconut worms in the late second and early third stages. This duration produces the best worms with rich nutrition.
2.4. Stage into coconut beetle:
After successfully wrapping, the coconut weevil becomes pupae and will develop in it. Until they are old enough, the pupae break their cocoons to escape.
When becoming adult, the coconut beetle grows between 2 and 5 cm in size and brown-red. These beetles can be considered badass pilots and can fly for a great distance.
3. Typical dishes made from coconut worms
Please remember that people do not eat coconut beetles but taste their worms, as mentioned above, in the late second and beginning of the first stages. But the best is when they are in the second stage.
A few people use coconut weevils to cook them with fish sauce, fry, grill, or boil. Here are the famous dishes cooked from this typical main ingredient:
3.1. Salty roasting coconut worms
Fresh worms are washed and placed in a saucepan with salt. They are mixed on a big fire for around 1 minute. Add sugar, seasoning powder, and pepper. Then, continue mixing it until you see yellow colors on the worms. This dish is ready to eat with steamed rice.
3.2. Coconut-worm porridge
Carefully wash coconut weevils and put them in a cup of white rice wine for 2 minutes. Then, keep them in a bowl of chili fish sauce for a few minutes.
Cook the regular rice porridge for around 20 minutes, then add these coconut weevils to the porridge pot. You may add a few slides of ginger, peppers, onion, and a little coconut milk and cook for 10 minutes. That is ready to taste the rich protein soup.
3.3. Grilled with salt and chili
After working them, the coconut worms are skewered into bamboo sticks and grilled over charcoal until golden. The eater can roll them with lettuce, tomato, sweet basil, and green chili. Then, they can dip the roll into tamarind fish sauce and enjoy.
3.4. Bathing fish sauce
This eating method is unique and strange, as you eat fresh worms alive. Many people call this dish with a fun name – coconut weevils swimming in the river. It is because the fat worms swim in a bowl of spicy chili fish sauce with garlic.
Due to eating raw, many guests must be brave enough to try this high-nutritional dish.
Please pick up a living weevil moving in fish sauce into your mouth and chew it slowly to let its milky body spread. You will feel that coconut worms have a sweeter taste, like egg yolk and cheese, softer than jelly and smoother than noodles.
4. Frequently asked questions about coconut worms:
4.1. Are coconut worms safe to eat?
In general, coconut worms are okay to eat when many Vietnamese people can taste them. Typically, beer or wine drinkers like to enjoy these worms.
However, this food is strange for foreign tourists, and the local government does not allow the sale of coconut worms. Thus, please think twice before you try it!
4.2. What do coconut worms taste like?
Coconut worms taste like fresh milk. However, the feeling of looking at the worms and when to bite them is too different from that of regular food.
4.3. Where are the most coconut worms in Vietnam?
This type of worm is most commonly found in Vietnam’s Mekong Delta, where plenty of coconut trees are grown, specifically in Ben Tre province.
5. Conclusion
Coconut worms are harmful insects to coconut trees and other plants in the same family. Thus, they are not allowed to grow, buy, or sell. So, you have to notice this tip to avoid being punished with a lot of money.
Therefore, to protect coconut trees in Vietnam, especially in the Ben Tre region in the Mekong Delta, we do not encourage visitors to try coconut weevils.
Please try other traditional foods in Vietnam such as Banh Chung, or meat rolls!
