Many people enjoy Thai food worldwide: spicy soups and salads, flavorful rice dishes are abundant. But in Thailand, fried or roasted insects and scorpions are also popular, readily available, and inexpensive. - bamboo worms, which are also deep fried;
- giant water bugs, which are steamed; they are also ground into a paste with chili and eaten with sticky rice;
- weaver ants (red ants with a painful bite) and their eggs; sticky rice is dipped into a mixture of ants, eggs, and chili;
- dung beetles; which add a wholesome flavor to curries; however, many people will not eat them because they live in and on excrement.
In addition, Thai people will eat:
- the pupae of silk moths and other moths and butterflies; you must first remove the pupae from their cocoons, then boil them until soft with a pinch of salt, finally sautée them lightly;
- the larvae of wasps and bees; these are deep-fried;
and arachnids:
- poisonous scorpions, which are grilled;
- giant tarantulas, which are also grilled.
I haven't seen other spiders eaten, but I suspect if it moves, it's considered food somewhere.
Also, termites (large white ants) are grilled and their eggs are a delicacy used to make a flavorful soup.
Where I lived in Bangkok, Sukhumvit Soi 4, every night starting around 5:00 PM, there was a street vendor with half a dozen kinds of fried and grilled insects and scorpions; her customers were mainly the bar girls in the area. Every night she was quite busy as the girls consider these insects a tasty snack, and munch on them as frequently as Western people munch on potato chips.
The lady vendor does not speak any English, but will pose with her wares for a photograph if you give her a 20 baht (about 60 cents) tip. And if you’re brave, you could always buy a bag of deep fried bamboo worms…
Sphere: Related Content
Posts
