A taste for the exotic

By Tim Gladwin

In common with most hot countries lying in the Tropics, Thailand has more than its fair share of bugs, creepy crawlies and nasty looking reptiles.
In fact, in this particular respect, unless you are
a keen herpetologist, arachnophile, or insect lover, probably the only positive is that at least it’s not as bad as Australia. There are all manner of snakes, scorpions, spiders, lizards and cockroaches,
to mention just a few. And they are all over the place, or at least they are once you get away from the concrete jungle and into anything even resembling countryside.

My own home is in a small, green village several miles from the nearest town, where we are surrounded by acres of tall grass, trees and ponds. When I occasionally arrive home late at night, I am regularly greeted by huge spiders, roughly the size of my hand, sitting in the glare of the cars headlights on the outside wall of the house or by gigantic flying beetles or, in the early summer, by swarms of termites attracted by the outside light. There is little doubt our insect screens do a wonderful job at the windows and doors. Although I have become used to having these ugly pests around, I still prefer to keep them outside of the house.

But having them around is a fact of life that most Thais have easily adapted to and even something of which they have taken full advantage. You may well ask how. The answer is simple, if they are edible, they eat them and some of these most despicable of creatures can actually make a very tasty snack.

I recall on one of my first visits to Thailand, many years ago now, while I was wandering around
a small Phuket night market, a huge flying beetle kept hovering around me seemingly attracted by something I was wearing. It was black, seriously ugly and made a loud, disconcerting buzzing noise as it repeatedly darted towards my face. Somewhat perturbed, each time it came at me I would back away and swat at it with my hand in an attempt to get it away. Noticing this, an attractive young woman from behind one of the stalls plucked the thing out of the air in an impressive show of dexterity that suggested a practiced hand. She smiled at me and in broken English explained, “I like eat, taste good”.
I was absolutely horrified. I had thought it was only witches with large noses and prominent warts who would ever consider eating such a creature.

That episode took place a number of years before Thailand became my permanent home. In between times I visited the Kingdom on innumerable weekend breaks and it was during one of them that I first saw one of Pattaya’s many wheelbarrow stalls that sell various insect and bug snacks. I remember well the first time I shared a bag of fried grasshoppers with my girlfriend. I think I must have had a beer or two more than was good for me, because the idea of eating grasshoppers, cooked or otherwise, is not one that really appeals to me on any level. However, once I get the post beer munchies I am far more likely to be adventurous when it comes to eating unusual food. And so it proved. I was persuaded to try one and having discovered they provide a satisfying crunch a little like potato chips there was no stopping me. Unfortunately, in my hurry to fill my empty stomach, I forgot to take the wings off before devouring them and it took a few hours of repeated brushing and flossing before the last remnants of grasshopper wings were finally removed from between my teeth.

The next insect delicacy I was persuaded to try was a cooked scorpion. I had been introduced to a group of US army helicopter pilots who were over here on holiday from their base in South Korea. The taxi driver they had retained for the duration of their trip had told them of his penchant for snacking on various insects and in particular of his taste for scorpions. They had doubted him and so he had agreed to prove it to them. Unfortunately, the time for doing so came while I was out with them all for a seafood dinner at the Lobster Pot on Walking Street. The driver disappeared off to find his favourite delicacy and when he returned, he had enough for everyone to try. It quickly became a challenge and each of us decided to get stuck into a crunchy piece of exoskeleton rather than suffer the taunts of the others. It wasn’t really that bad, although I didn’t exactly feel like dashing out to buy some more.

In the last few years, certain American reality TV shows such as Survivor and Fear Factor have brought the eating of offensive looking insects to mainstream television. However, anyone watching would quickly appreciate that the various contestants are doing it for money rather than for love. But, if you can get over the way these insects look, there is every reason to consider them as an alternative food source, just like the estimated 3,000 ethnic groups in 113 countries who already do so. For one thing, there is great variety with over 1,450 varieties of insect known to be edible. For another, many of them are actually far tastier than their appearance would have you believe, which is probably the major factor in their popularity in societies all around the globe, in countries from Thailand to New Zealand, Nigeria to Japan. But perhaps most importantly, they provide high quality protein and are an excellent source of other nutrients such as calcium, iron and B vitamins.

Here in Thailand, edible bugs are, quite literally, big business. In fact, the edible insect industry is worth an estimated US$50 million a year to the various merchants who generally source their supplies from the north east of the country. And it is not just grasshoppers and scorpions that are popular delicacies. Fried cicadas, locusts, crickets and mantises are all common alternatives. Steamed giant water bugs are also said to be extremely tasty, although if we are what we eat, anyone trying them should probably avoid mirrors at all costs. These same bugs are also sometimes mixed with chillis, ground into a paste and then eaten with sticky rice, weaver ants and their eggs. Dung beetles are said to contribute an interesting flavour to curries, although one dreads to think where the unusual taste actually comes from, while the pupae of silk moths apparently provide a particularly tasty snack. Grilled termites are a real favourite amongst many Thais and their eggs are often used to make a soup that is said to be simply delicious. All the same, I would hazard a guess I will probably never find out for myself. Perhaps one of the most spectacular options when it comes to eating creepy crawlies is grilled tarantula, which tends to be barbequed and eaten off a stick, a bit like an exotic sheekh kebab. Pulling one of those off a barbeque back home would be guaranteed to keep the guests talking for a while.

Many experts believe Thailand has the world’s largest population of snakes, in addition to the greatest number of diverse species. Although it is hard to be precise given the nature of the creatures and the environments in which they live, there are believed to be approximately 160 different kinds of snake that are indigenous to the Land (and sea) of the Smile, of which approximately half are poisonous. Unfortunately for them they don’t escape the menu either.

A good friend of mine recently bought a new house in this part of the World, which stands in one rai (1,600 square metres) of land. The place hadn’t been lived in for a little while and so the garden was overgrown and the house required some renovation. On one of his recent visits to see how the improvements were going, my friend was reassured by the foreman that he need not be concerned about snakes in the garden because his workmen had already hunted them down and eaten them all.
My friend got pest control while the workmen got several satisfying meals. Everyone, at least save for the snakes, was a winner.

Snakes are of course widely used in Chinese medicine and many Thais also believe in their restorative qualities. Health drinks containing fresh snake blood are popular in rural Thai communities, while cooked snake meat is eaten simply because it tastes good.
If a pregnant female snake is captured and killed, its eggs are also considered to be a rare gastronomic treat.

Of course the truth is that all humans have learnt to live in the environment with which they have been blessed. Part and parcel of that for people living in hot tropical countries such as Thailand has been to eat whatever food Mother Nature has provided.
The fact it includes the sort of ugly insects, spiders and snakes that many of us grew up to detest and fear is actually no more surprising than the fact my grandfather used to love to eat Black Pudding
(made of pig’s blood with lumps of fat interspersed) and homemade tripe (made from the lining of cow’s stomachs), or the fact that Haggis is so popular in Scotland and beyond. Moreover, anyone who has worked in a sausage factory would tell you that a few fried bugs look positively appealing compared to what goes into the grinder. The fact is we all eat some odd stuff, it just doesn’t seem as strange if you are used to it.

For anyone with an interest in strange and exotic food, the Paradise Restaurant (tel: 038 723177), which can be found on Second Road opposite the Royal Garden Plaza is somewhere not to be missed. Their fascinating menu includes some superb dishes featuring meat from ostriches, kangaroos, emus and crocodiles, as well as more mainstream frog’s legs. In terms of edible insects, they serve some extremely tasty fried grasshoppers.

Even if you don’t make it to the Paradise Restaurant, next time you are taking a stroll down Walking Street and you pass by a stall full of freshly cooked insects, don’t just take a photo, but buy something and see for yourself just how tasty they can be. Who knows, maybe you will like them so much you will never again buy a bag of potato chips.