Eating Bugs...

[sbk]

I don't eat bugs, for one thing, they usually smell like very old cooking oil and that just puts me off before I even get to the idea of eating a cockroach.

Most people say they don't have much flavor at all, so then, whats the point? Or do you like bugs?

[Jingthing]

Well its cheap protein. I don't eat them either. I agree the smell of the old oil you find in Thailand is revolting. I imagine they could be made much more tasty. I know chile fried grasshoppers are popular in Oaxaca Mexico and when I was there they looked OK and did not smell nasty like the Thai bugs. They say if you eat a grasshopper you will be back. I didn't. Haven't been back.

[473geo]

I eat them......I like them....they are a good snack, not a meal......I'm not too keen on the locusts........or some texture of the grubs but they are ok, the black beetles fried in garlic and the grasshoppers are terrific.......better than potato and corn crisps/chips any day!!!!

[473geo]

A lovely ants nest snack....

[blue eyes]

I really enjoy the crickets fried in fresh oil with lime leaves and the grubs to.I will not buy them on the street because they do not tast good and I have no idea where they came from.Poison and all that you know.But to get them on our farm and fry them up fresh MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM GOOD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[PoorSucker]

I like the grasshoppers.

The cockroaches doesn't taste anything, have the texture of an old twinky.

[gotlost]

I love them ,not much taste and you need to watch their legs.

[Samuian]

Yes, Bushtucker, there are varieties cooked with spices... as a side snack, aroi mahk!

Thailands answer to "Tapas"!

...and one should only buy at recommended stall's/cart's.

Edited December 19, 2009 by Samuian

[PoorSucker]

Thai smorgasbord.

[SamuiJens]

Thai smorgasbord.

Are u Finished making me nervous?!

Edited December 19, 2009 by SamuiJens

[PhilHarries]

I've tried Meng Da, what many people think are cockroaches but in fact are the Thai diving beetles, on several occasions and can say, with the safety of the backup of personal experience, that they are <deleted>! The only way to eat these abominations is after a serious session on the hooch and even then keep the brown paper bag close at hand.

Ant pupae and various other small bugs are okay but why the hel_l would you eat something that just crawled across the floor when you can go to a decent restaurant and have a steak, provided you can beat the ants to it?

The locusts are again okay especially with beer to wash the little feet and bits from between your teeth, best kept for turning the stomachs of tourists, but again why?

They might all be a good source of protein but then 100 billion flies can't be wrong so let's eat sh1t!

[languageexpress]

I tried crickets twice near Saraburi. They tasted of sesame oil, so I guess they were fried in it, or more likely, tossed in it afterwards. I didn’t like them, but they weren’t as bad as I expected. I’d eat them again, but only for a suitably appreciative audience.

[mr6kings]

I tried crickets twice near Saraburi. They tasted of sesame oil, so I guess they were fried in it, or more likely, tossed in it afterwards. I didn’t like them, but they weren’t as bad as I expected. I’d eat them again, but only for a suitably appreciative audience.

I find the stir-fried crickets not unlike sunflower seeds amd the silk worm larva akin to a soft lima bean. Anyway thats what I tell myself. I thought I was pretty Issan eating a few of each until my wife's sister handed me a BIG handful of the larva. Ummm all at once? I don't think so.

[Jonathanpattaya]

I like the grasshoppers.

The cockroaches doesn't taste anything, have the texture of an old twinky.

Do the Thais eat cockroaches?

I thought they were water beetles.

[gameon]

My absolute favorites are the Ringo stars, however depending upon the amount of beer i could possibly enjoy a george harrison or two.

[PhilHarries]

Tasty Cambodian snacks.

[languageexpress]

I tried crickets twice near Saraburi. They tasted of sesame oil, so I guess they were fried in it, or more likely, tossed in it afterwards. I didn't like them, but they weren't as bad as I expected. I'd eat them again, but only for a suitably appreciative audience.

I find the stir-fried crickets not unlike sunflower seeds amd the silk worm larva akin to a soft lima bean. Anyway thats what I tell myself. I thought I was pretty Issan eating a few of each until my wife's sister handed me a BIG handful of the larva. Ummm all at once? I don't think so.

Ughhhhh silk worms..bleeach!! I haven’t had them in Thailand, but they were all over the place in Korean winters. They steam them and sell them wrapped in a twist of soggy newspaper. I can consume just about anything, from grasshoppers to guinea pigs, sparrows to fermented horse’s milk, but I can’t stand the smell of steamed silkworm larvae. I stand in awe struck silence before anyone who manages to eat those things and keep from gagging. That goes double for cockroaches!!

[Crypt36]

I used to eat them all the time when I just got here... The small and the big grasshoppers and the small white worms they call Rot Duan (fast train) are my favourites. Even ate one of those scorpions once

But I get diarea from street food all the time so I don't eat it anymore.

[bina]

ants and ant eggs, spicey, i love it,,,

the smaller kinds of beetles that are fried are great. they reminded me of 'bisli' an israeli kids snack (no,not bugs, more like crunchydoodles or fritos) . the bigger beetles- the feet and wings bug ( ) me-- grasshoppers are great. i dont think i could eat soft squishy type things (lima beans-ugh!)

ive eaten raw mealyworms (my gecko's food) just to gross out the kibbutz kids.

had horses milk but fermented?!!!

supposedly grasshoppers are kosher and yemenites and morrocans here tell of 'lean years' and catching grasshoppers (maybe cicadas actually) and frying them up to eat. nowadays, doesn go over well here at any rate.

finally convinced youngest to taste a shrimp (not kosher, has feelers, legs, tail). she was brave, tried one, and reported to friends, while i photoed her doing it. (rather like farang eating bugs in thailand.).

bina

[tutsiwarrior]

I always wondered what them guys with the fried bug carts parked out front of Nana Plaza were up to...the tank top and tattoo brigade like to dare each other when they get oiled up, I suppose...could just as well walk across to the Nana Hotel cafe an' get a nice burger...

[BEENTHEREDONETHAT]

The little ants are good if you gut them before you deep fry them.

[473geo]

I always wondered what them guys with the fried bug carts parked out front of Nana Plaza were up to...the tank top and tattoo brigade like to dare each other when they get oiled up, I suppose...could just as well walk across to the Nana Hotel cafe an' get a nice burger...

Yep, I've lost count of the number of people who insist on telling me how, when in Thailand, they ate a burger in the Nana Hotel Cafe..

Luckily the stories are so interesting I never tire of hearing them.....

[Millard]

I've had grasshoppers and thought they were deliciously seasoned. Then I tried those little ants with wings and they were the most tasteless waste of baht I had ever experienced.

[nisakiman]

Fried bugs don't do it for me. There is so much good food on the street, why bother with bugs?