The master's graduate in 'cricket studies' and his dream... of insects!

(Baonghean.vn) - By chance, but also driven by a passion for learning about insects, especially crickets, math teacher Nguyen The Thang set up a cricket farm, then became a master's degree holder in economics with a thesis on cricket farming, and is now pursuing his dreams related to...insects.

After graduating from university and being accepted to teach mathematics at Nguyen Van To High School (Dien Chau), teacher Nguyen The Thang has a special interest in crickets.

Master's degree holder Nguyen The Thang instructs a young family in Dien My (Dien Chau) on how to raise crickets.

Success from passion

With an initial capital of only 300,000 VND, Thang bought cricket eggs in Hanoi to breed, and learned breeding techniques from online resources and self-study. With perseverance and meticulous care, one day Thang was overjoyed when the tiny cricket eggs, no bigger than mustard seeds, hatched into miniature crickets. He then devoted himself to raising the young crickets, savoring sleepless nights. He placed them in deep styrofoam boxes filled with cardboard to provide shelter; their food consisted of rice bran and various vegetables like water spinach, sweet potato leaves, and cabbage. After only 25 days, he harvested his first batch of adult crickets, and after about 35 days, this generation of crickets began reproducing...

After hatching, the crickets are raised in Styrofoam containers.

After successfully hatching and raising his first batch of crickets, Thang went to various restaurants to offer them for sale. Seeing the strange-looking packages of pre-processed, frozen crickets in plastic bags, many restaurant owners shook their heads and refused. He then persuaded them to let him use their kitchens, and he personally prepared the crickets and offered them samples. Many praised the taste, but still hesitated to include crickets on their menus.

Undeterred, Thang read many books and articles about crickets and solidified his scientific understanding that they are nutritious and harmless insects. He then decided to rent a space on Phong Dinh Cang Street (Vinh City) to open a cricket restaurant, naming it 'Lan Huong Cricket Farm' after his eldest daughter. He meticulously prepared the dishes and invited close friends and acquaintances to try them and introduce them to the restaurant.

Delicious dishes made from crickets at Mr. Thang's restaurant.

Braised young cicadas in fish sauce is a very popular dish.

Gradually, more and more customers came to the restaurant to enjoy dishes made from crickets raised by Mr. Thang. The menu also became increasingly diverse: crispy fried crickets, grilled crickets, battered fried crickets, crickets roasted with salt and chili, crickets braised with pepper, crickets fried in butter…

According to Mr. Thang, for cricket dishes to be delicious, the preparation method must be elaborate. Before cooking, the crickets must be fasted for 3 days to expel harmful substances from their bodies. Then, they are fed roasted mung bean powder and fasted for another 3 days. After that, the crickets are washed thoroughly with diluted salt water and preserved by freezing before being prepared into dishes according to customers' requests.

To expand the market for farmed crickets, Thang opened a restaurant called "De Men" (Cricket), but sales remained limited. Continuing his online research, he learned that crickets are a favorite food of pet birds, so he approached pet bird shops to market his product.

Freezing crickets also requires experience to ensure quality.

Initially, he would consign crickets for them to sell alongside other merchandise, even giving away "promotional" crickets to discerning bird owners to try feeding their birds. When the dealers sold out of crickets, he encouraged them to raise crickets by providing breeding stock, technical guidance, recruiting members, and guaranteeing the purchase of their produce.

Having secured a fairly wide market, Mr. Thang created a website to promote cricket farming. To date, he has guided nearly 400 households in provinces from Thanh Hoa to Quang Binh on cricket farming techniques and guaranteed the purchase of their products. Nearly 289 members in the central provinces are raising crickets to supply him and his distributors and restaurants. In addition, he also exports crickets to some northern provinces, to Laos, and even to customers in the Czech Republic…

"Kingdom" of insects

Once the basic cricket farming and business model was stable, Nguyen The Thang continued to research the rat snake farming model and guided members who wanted to raise them, with guaranteed product sales. To date, he has guided and provided breeding stock to 10 rat snake farming models.

In addition, he also buys and processes grasshoppers, beetles, and cicadas to supply to restaurants and pubs... However, he has to import geckos and scorpions from elsewhere. Driven by the increasing demand from diners for insect dishes, Mr. Thang has invested in providing the market with a rich and diverse source of insects.

Nguyen The Thang's Cricket Restaurant, located at 52B Phung Khac Khoan Street, Hung Dung Ward (Vinh City), sells and showcases eight types of insects: crickets, grasshoppers, locusts, scorpions, stink bugs, and cicadas, which are processed into 35 dishes such as: stir-fried crickets with lemongrass and chili, roasted crickets with salt and lime, grilled grasshoppers, stir-fried grasshoppers with turmeric, roasted locusts with lime leaves, cicadas simmered in fish sauce, etc.

Dishes made from insects are available at Thang's Cricket Restaurant.

Fried snakehead fish with lime salt dip

Every afternoon, the Cricket Restaurant, also known as "Thang De Restaurant," is a popular spot for friends and customers; it's also a frequent gathering place for artists and writers from Vinh City to discuss poetry and music, creating a unique and inspiring atmosphere.

To fulfill his passion and expand his business knowledge, Nguyen The Thang successfully completed his Master's thesis in Economic Management at Vietnam Maritime University on the topic of "Cricket Studies," hoping that the insects he is researching will further develop in the market.

In the future, he plans to build a farm to raise various insects: crickets, geckos, and scorpions.

Thang De restaurant has become a popular meeting place for many diners.

Dam Phuong