By: Heather Van Hull- Booking Coordinator, Cambodia
Way back when (about 6 months ago), I used to live in Laos prior to migrating slightly southward to Cambodia. Going with the theme of bizarre foods in Southeast Asia, I decided to repost a blog I wrote a few months back:
Who knew a quiet border town could also be a centre for fine dining? Thakek’s Mekong riverfront boulevard is lined with top notch quaint cafes serving local delicacies ranging from roast duck to spicy appendix (Still haven’t figured out whose appendix…) to be savoured while watching the sun set over Thailand.
After much contemplation we settle on a round of BeerLao and an appetizer of fried crickets – a traditional Lao on-the-go snack and ‘drinking’ food.
Typically these little flying morsels of ‘yumminess’ are brought in hopping-ly fresh from local bug farms, then quickly deep-fried to a golden brown, thrown on a plate (or in a doggy bag) and served accompanied with a side of chili sauce. Lightly frying the crickets in oil and spices not only makes them easier to catch with chopsticks, but also makes the outer shell delightfully crunchy and spicy.
If plain ol’ crickets do not appeal to you, you can also order them with sticky rice or ground into the meatballs in your noodle soup. Although fried cricket may not be as ‘saep lai’ (Lao for ‘very delicious’) as a bag of crisps, they are little lumps of nutrition – rich in protein, fat and essential vitamins. The United Nations is encouraging even more bug-eating as a solution to the country’s high rate of malnutrition by raising the income of local bug collectors and increasing the yield of bug farmers.
| Small Grasshoppers (100g) | McDonalds Hamburger (107g) | |
| Protein | 20.6g | 12.0g |
| Total Fat | 6.1g | 10.0g |
To make this fine Thakek insect dining experience even finer, mobile manicurists on motorbikes cruise up and down the street, offering their services to café patrons. Where else can you get a French manicure while dining? Watch out Ritz here comes Thakek!
Interested in reading more about bizarre foods? Check out similar posts here and look for more to follow on the travel blog: https://archive.journeys-within.com/2012/03/04/they-eat-it-all-in-laos/… Read more »