SNACKING THE BUGS

Nia S. Amira
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Let’s snacking the bugs!” said my Thai new friend, Wardha Wangpakdee Edrics. I was just saying, Nooo way..never had ex­perience by snack­ing with the bugs before. In Yogyakarta and some villages in Central Java, there are still people con­suming bugs to substi­tute the eggs or fish for hav­ing protein. But…thank you, I am not the person who can eas­ily swallow those very special natu­ral’s creature. I still have the thought bugs are nasty. Wardha keeps driving after having a very nice Spa for 1.5 hours that really giving relaxation, especially I got lots of tension and the texture of those 12 fresh shrimps in a big local seafood resto in Bang Kapi street were really awesome, my mouth is very sensitive to find food above average.

After 20 minutes, we arrived at Huay Kwang 24 hours market. The street resembles Tanah Abang in Central Jakarta. We parked at one of the 24 hours of cosmet­ic street vendors. The young girl who sells the things for giving you more beauty wear­ing a tank top, the weather in Bangkok was over 31 at that night, really got sweat.

About my thoughts of those insects things, Wardha told me that they are low in calories, but high in protein and giving you extremely nutrition. It was once that these bugs snack for only low-in­come workers in Thailand, but as I saw that night, high-society sit on their fine Mercedes seats just enjoyed their snacking with bugs like they eat a normal chips…

Where Do Fried Insects Come From? – Like in Central Java and other Asian countries where fried insects are eaten, people picked them from the trees, searching the bugs in the undergrowth or just cut­ting down the bamboo trunks to harvest the bugs, other insects even cultivated by insects farm­ers and this already becomes local business as they provide with plenty supply for their loy­al customers.

Where Can You Find Fried In­sects In Bangkok? – Fried insects are available all over Bangkok. One of the places you can find the fried insects is on Huay Kwang Night Mar­ket, they sell bagfuls of fried insects ev­ery night.

Which Insects Should You Eat? – Bamboo worms, crickets and grasshoppers are the most popular ones in Bangkok, others include scorpions and water beetles, weevils and ants. I can’t even dare to just bite the bamboo worms that looks still alive to me. A 24 years girl who just came by for a small pack of bamboo worms said she likes fried bugs and it is cheap, 60 bath or 24.000 Rupiah.

“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 Eng­lish.

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 ven­dors 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 ven­dor guaranteed the bugs shall be crispy and fresh up to a week.

A 2013 report by the U.N.’s Food and Agricul­tural 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?