“Crickets and grasshoppers are crispy, while bamboo worms are slightly crunchy on the outside, but soft on the inside. Grasshopper legs and cricket wings stick in your teeth and scorpions are harder to eat with all that shell,†explained a 40 years old woman who asked Wardha to translate her in EngÂlish.
But of course, you will find the taste of fried bugs differs from vendor to vendor as well, as they use different spices and flavorings, sometimes venÂdors add special home made sauce to taste. Like the vendors in Jakarta who sells fried cutting potatos and mushrooms, their fellows in Bangkok also put a spice of chili or herb flavors on fried grasshoppers might give you a wonderful combination with all that crunch.
To those who are super adventurous, try a bag of mixed insects, and you will get a varied sample, and the vendor will include the content of your bags with scorpions or other scary insects.
Insects go a bit soggy a few hours after cooking, so freshly fried is better too. You can also buy them packaged in plastic at some markets, and the venÂdor guaranteed the bugs shall be crispy and fresh up to a week.
A 2013 report by the U.N.’s Food and AgriculÂtural Organization suggests that edible insects could help offset food insecurity as the world’s population increases — they are high in protein, vitamins and fiber.
The future might be: bugs in a bag, coming soon to a 7-Eleven near you? Who knows?
