Entomophagy: Should eating insects be socially acceptable?

[opebo]

I'm probably one of the few people on the board who regularly eat insects.. by regularly I mean every couple months I'll get a bag of grubs and/or a back of crickets, grasshoppers, whatever, from one of the fried insect ladies on the street.  They usually have fried shrimps too.  Everything is somewhat pre-cooked as far as I can tell, and she just fries it in hot oil with some herbs, tosses it in a bag, and sprays it with a salty sauce from a bottle. 

They really are a delicious snack, very salty and oily, that go well with beer or soft drinks.  Only warning is they're good for a between-meals snack but bad as an appetizer, as they're quite filling.  I can never finish mine, and always share them with the working girls.

NDN is your mother from Thailand?  Specifically Isaan?

[opebo]

Other than fried insects, what kind of dishes do they prepare with insects, Opie?  Any main courses?

Well, there is a delicious (but somewhat 'rich') spicy sauce that is prepared from a huge water-bug that does look a bit like a cockroach.  It is served with all sorts of dishes, though it is not a staple.  I was most recently given it when in the market I bought a brace of flame-grilled frogs (toads?).

As for in a main dish, the only one I know of is a famous one - a lovely soup here in Isaan that contains ant eggs.  There are several very 'earthy' soups here that are somewhat but not super spicy but full of herbs - they can dark green or even black.  

I love the ant egg soup - there are even sometimes a few stray ants in it.. oh and also I saw a cool traditional dance that depicts the young men and women going out to collect ants in the forest, and using it as an opportunity to flirt and even touch.

[opebo]

Well, there is a delicious (but somewhat 'rich') spicy sauce that is prepared from a huge water-bug that does look a bit like a cockroach.  It is served with all sorts of dishes, though it is not a staple.  I was most recently given it when in the market I bought a brace of flame-grilled frogs (toads?).

That sounds awesome.  What kind of taste does it have?

I would describe it as a bit like a pungent salsa, but with a bit more fat and protein in it obviously.

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Insect dishes can be found in every big town in Isaan, the Thai Northeast (ethnically mainly Lao).  But you will definitely only find them reliably at the 'nicer' traditional restaurants.  In villages of course you will not find any such restaurants, but you might if lucky get to eat such foods in people's houses or at festivals or Morlam concerts.  In the rest of Thailand you will probably only find these dishes at speciality Isaan restaurants, though in 'bar girl' areas you will find lots of fried insect vendors on the street, as 70%+ of the working girls in the foreigner-oriented industry are from Isaan.

[opebo]

What's the best you've had? I've always thought that cricket looked pretty good.

Well, crickets are OK.. not so tasty, kind of inoffensive, and you can eat the whole thing - with various grasshoppers the legs have to come off.  Personally I have to best luck just eating grubs - I usually get one fat dark kind and one long thin whitish kind.  Very proteiny and no legs or other bits to deal with.

NDN is your mother from Thailand?  Specifically Isaan?

Colombia actually. They eat ants regularly there. Not just with chocolate either. Some areas have actually nearly hunted them to extinction just to get good culonas (of course it's impossible to ever deplete them).
[/quote]

Oh I see.  The best insect food by far in Thailand, in my opinion, is the ant egg soup.