Choi Jongrak is a Korean guy who is passionate about Vietnamese cuisine and culture. Not only does he own the YouTube channel HanQuocBros with nearly 1 million followers, Jongrak also participates in hosting and experiencing Vietnamese culture through TV shows combining the two countries. He is currently doing business and creating content in Ho Chi Minh City.
Recently, a Korean guy tried a dish with a strange and beautiful name: "long-legged dancer". In fact, this is another name for dried frog, made from frog meat originating from the Bay Nui region, An Giang (bordering Cambodia) and some neighboring provinces such as Bac Lieu, Dong Thap.
From May to November every year is the rainy season in the West, the frogs reproduce a lot and it is also the season for local people to dry frogs.
The caught frogs will be dried for storage or sale. Because they live in a natural environment and cannot be raised, the frogs' meat is tough and does not contain toxins. The dried frog dish is made by cutting off the head, peeling off the skin, removing all the internal organs and washing thoroughly, then marinating with salt, pepper and chili until evenly absorbed and finally drying in the sun twice. When finished, the dried frogs are only as small as a finger.
Currently, the price of dried frogs is up to 700,000 VND/kg. The price of dried frogs is increasing because the supply is scarce while the market demand is increasing strongly. Another part is that to make 1kg of dried frogs, it takes 4-6kg of fresh frogs, while the supply of fresh frogs is increasingly limited.
Two years ago, when Covid-19 was still happening in Vietnam, Jongrak and his brother also tried buying dried frogs to eat at home with different dipping sauces such as soy sauce, chili sauce, mustard, wasabi... The first impression of the two Korean guys when they first saw the "long-legged dancer" was that it was like dried fish, very suitable to eat with Korean sauce.
Now, having "experienced" many Vietnamese specialties and having spent a long time in Ho Chi Minh City, Jongrak decided to try the "long-legged dancer" again in the true Vietnamese style of eating. He found a sidewalk restaurant and ordered a plate of fried dried frog with chili fish sauce, a plate of stir-fried water spinach with garlic (jokingly called "blue dragon crossing the sea") and a glass of cold draft beer.
The Korean guy shared: "Is the long-legged dancer so crispy? To eat long-legged dancers, you must have a blue dragon crossing the sea." These two rustic dishes, with a crispy and fatty taste that allows you to chew both the bones and the meat, and rich in the flavor of the river delta region, are very popular with drinkers. Jongrak was so engrossed in drinking the "long-legged dancers" that he eagerly ordered more beer.
