Hey, we eat insects

Eating creepy crawlies and grubs might be something straight out of Fear Factor for some but for locals in these countries, it’s just as common as your local fast food chain.

Australia

Abundant in southern New South Wales during summer, witchetty grubs, the small, white larvae of ghost moths, have been an essential part of the Aboriginal diet for centuries. The grubs are dug from the gum tree roots and are eaten live or barbecued. They are rich in protein and would make a nutritious source if you lost in the bush. Supermarkets even have them in soup tins.

It's scrumptius mate!

Thailand, Laos and Cambodia
Walk the markets of these countries and you will be greeted by street vendors selling an amazing variety of fried insects as snacks. These orders of insects are commonly found : odonata (damselflies and dragon flies), orthoptera (crickets, grasshoppers, katydids), mantodea (mantids), isoptera (termites), hemiptera (water bugs, cicadas, backswimmers), lepidoptera (silkworm moths are popular), coleoptera (weevils, wood-boring beetles, diving beetles) and hymenoptera (bees, ants, wasps). Some restaurants serve insects as part of their menu as well.

Crunch crunch

China
Chinese people are known to eat ‘anything that moves’ so finding locals delighting in insect snacks and delicacies shouldn’t come as a surprise. Just head to a local street markets such as the ones in Tianjin, Hangzhou, Canton or the Wangfujing Night Market in Beijing for a weird and wonderful array. Silkworm cocoons, cicada larvae, fried locusts, crickets and grasshoppers, and eight-legged critters such as scorpions, tarantulas and spiders are a common sight.

Market in Beijing

South Korea
Beondegi or silkworm pupae is a popular snack for South Koreans. They can be bought on the streets, served in bars or restaurants as appetizers or bought in a can from a Korean grocery and convenience stores. Beondegi can be eaten boiled, steamed, stewed or stir-fried.

Beondegi in a cup

Japan
The Japanese have been eating insects for centuries, especially aquatic insects which were an important source of protein. Restaurants in Tokyo and many parts of Japan still offer various insect-based dishes such as hachinoko (boiled bee larvae), Inago no Tsukudani (stewed grasshoppers or locusts in sweet soy sauce), zazamushi (aquatic insect larvae), semi (fried cicadas) and sangi (silkworm pupae. Known as beondegi in Korea).

Hachinoko. Kelantan has our local version. 

Columbia
Hormigas culonas, literally translates to “big-butt ants” in Spanish, is a priced delicacy in Columbia. These leaf-cutter ants are aptly named because of their large lower abdomen. Only the young queens and drones are harvested in the Santander region in spring after the rainy season when they surface to establish their own ant colonies. The ants are roasted and eaten as snacks, a favourite for moviegoers and as bar snacks. Termites and palm grubs are popular edible insects as well.

Big ass butts alright

Mexico
The agave worm, also known as the maguey worm, is the worm you find in tequila bottles. They are also eaten roasted, fried, cooked inside a tortilla or as part of a recipe for a meal. Chapulines or fried grasshoppers are a common snack which are also found commercially canned and sold in supermarkets and local grocery stores. Ants, rich in thiamine and riboflavin, are consumed both in egg form and as adults. Ant eggs, which are common in Mexican markets, are often cooked in butter and served in tacos. Ant larvae are canned and exported as gourmet food.

Here, have some chapulines

Africa

In Africa, many of the tribes eat insects such as termites, grasshoppers, caterpillars, palm weevil larvae, beetles, ants, and locusts. The wings of the termites are removed before roasting or fried and salt is added to taste. Guts of crickets and grasshoppers are removed before fried. Locusts are typically boiled and salted prior to eating. Another widely eaten insect is the westwood larvae, a caterpillar known as kanni. They are boiled and dried in the sun before eaten or used as an ingredient in vegetable soup. Another larvae, the palm weevil larva, is a large insect that is fleshy and grublike with a high fat content. They are collected from the trunks of palm trees and fried. An even larger insect, the compost beetle larvae, can be found in garbage, manure piles or swampy areas. The lower abdomen containing the guts is removed before being washed and fried. Some don’t eat it because they are taken from ‘dirty’ places.

Dirty buggers - compost beetle larvae

You can read the first part of the post here.
Published Star article here.

Grasshopper Big Macs anyone?

I was working on an article on entomophagy, the practise of eating insects, and I found the topic to be so interesting that I would like to share it with everyone.

Did you know that while it might not be appealing to some, human consumption of insects is actually quite common in some parts of the world?


Mmm yum

In Asia, Thais, Laotians and Cambodians think nothing of snacking on fried grasshoppers, crickets, locusts or water bugs, dragonflies boiled in coconut milk is a delicacy in Bali and hachinoko or boiled bee larvae is a traditional Japanese dish. Moviegoers in South America eat roasted ants instead of popcorn and it’s considered good luck if the agave worm in Mexican tequila bottles ends up in your glass. One man’s meat is certainly another man’s poison.

Due to people giving birth left, right and centre all over the world, food resources are getting more expensive and scarce. It is not surprising then that the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) is formally considering a policy paper to promote insects as food to the world. FAO held a conference in 2008 in Thailand on the theme "Forest Insects as Food: Humans Bite Back," to advocate for greater economic development of insects as food sources and will discuss the subject further in their upcoming 2013 world congress.

Professor Arnold van Huis

Dutch Professor Arnold van Huis, an entomologist at Wageningen University in Holland and the author of the UN paper, argues that bugs have high nutritional values, use less land and need less feed thus being cheaper to farm, and would produce far less greenhouse gas than current livestock. Health risks are also lower as being so biologically different from humans, insects are less subject to contagious diseases like the mad cow scare. Talk about an all-in-one solution to food security and global warming!

In an interview with Guardian, van Huis says that "The world population will grow from six billion now to nine billion by 2050 and we know people are consuming more meat. Twenty years ago the average was 20kg. It is now 50kg, and will be 80kg in 20 years. If we continue like this we will need another Earth."

In terms of combating global warming, the Professor’s latest research shows that farming insects such as locusts, crickets and meal worms emits 10 times less methane than livestock of cows, pigs, sheep and chicken. They also produce 300 times less nitrous oxide, also a warming gas, and much less ammonia, a pollutant produced by pig and poultry farming.

Being cold-blooded, insects don’t need to convert food energy into heat meaning that they need less food to grow. This makes farming insects a much sustainable alternative compared to farming livestock.


Farm me instead

FAO says that there are1,462 species of recorded edible insects with the most common coming from four main insect groups: beetles; ants, bees and wasps; grasshoppers and crickets; and moths and butterflies.

Some insects have as much protein as meat and fish. In dried form, insects have often twice the protein of fresh raw meat and fish, but usually not more than dried or grilled meat and fish. Some insects, especially in the larval stage, are also rich in fat and contain important vitamins and minerals.



Grasshopper BigMac

The arguments for eating insects sound very good on paper but would it take off in a world that has been softened by western cultural influences? Don’t hold your breath for ground grasshopper BigMacs with mashed crickets shaped as fries just yet but Malaysia does have a few places where creepy crawlies are part of its menu.

Kelantanese Teoh Yew Aun is also a frequent customer of a restaurant called 'Victoria Station' as it is located next to the train tracks in Tumpat serving fried bees. He says that "The first sensation you feel is the squishiness of the larvae before the crunchiness of the baby bees, much like goreng pisang batter. It’s hard to describe the taste. It’s very different because of the larvae but it tastes very good. Especially with beer.”

Entomophagy is also very common in various parts of East Malaysia where sago worms and other kinds of bugs are sold at local markets. I've tried live sago worms from Satok market in Kuching, Sarawak.

Eating the live sago worm at the RWMF 2009 Iban Longhouse 

Elizabeth Chan says that there are a few restaurants on the way to Tumpat that serves insects. They go to Bankok Restaurant, near the police station in Wakaf Baru, for fried bees. They also go to Ahan Thai at Pengkalan Kubur for fried bees & sago worms.

I guess the UN will have quite a lot of work cut out for them if they really want to implement this proposal successfully. I’m just thankful that normal food is still very much abundant in Malaysia. Now where’s the nearest Ramly burger stall?

I've also compiled a list of countries where eating bugs are as common as eating chips.



What more could go wrong?

29 Oct – 1 Nov

Road Trip #3 Taupo – Wellington

I’ve always been a believer of the law of attraction. Like attracts like and you make your day by how you begin it. Jump out of bed with joyous anticipation for the new day and a remarkable day you’ll have. Get up on the wrong side of bed? Well, the day can only get worse. Unfortunately, it was the wrong side of the bed that morning.

I should have known the signs. The day quickly degenerated from one issue to another. First was the parking. Wellington has weird parking systems and it is darn expensive to park in the city. We found this cheap Wilson parking that cost $3 to park till midnight and another $3 to park till the next eve. This stupid system didn’t allow us to pay for the next day so we had to walk back at midnight to put another $3 in.

After sorting out the parking, we headed into town for a cabaret show that promised a fun night out of performances, drinks and canapés that was supposed to start at 6pm. We hit the town in my best dress & heels to check out the entertainment scene. “Oh, the show guys aren’t here yet. Do come back at 7.30pm” says the staff at the adjoining café. 7.30pm? That’s 1 ½ hours away and I didn’t plan to kill time walking around wellington in my fancy high boots.



My Charles & Keith boots


My feet were killing me by that time and I was SUPER cranky. We turned up at the club at 7.30pm and handed our tickets only to find out that the show was cancelled 2 weeks ago! Wtf? But we just bought the tickets a few days back! The lady at the door kept arguing that it was impossible for us to purchase it but heck. I had the receipts. Told her we drove 5 hours to see the bloody show and all she can say is she’ll refund our tickets. She even had the cheek to say we could’t go for the replacement show coz it was double of what we paid. Boy were we royally pissed.

After walking off in a huff we decided to cool down with a couple of beers in an Irish pub. Bought the first round with no problems but for the second, this young waiter asked for my ID. He refused to accept my Press ID and driver’s license and said that if I couldn’t produce any evidence that I’m of legal age, I am not even allowed to be on the premises. Fine. I won’t buy then. Sent Jerry to buy the drinks.

As we were happily enjoying our drinks, this idiotic punk came up to our table and whined “I told your gf that she can’t even be here on the premises if she doesn’t have ID!” Well, we already paid for our food and it’s not even here yet. You refund our money then. “No, you have to leave.” Then call your manager. Just then the manager walked passed, gave the punk a look and said leave us alone. The manager was the one who served me the first time. He was nice enough to say sorry that his staff is extremely ‘vigilant and take their job seriously’. Hmph! It’s one thing if I’m a rowdy young drunk demanding for rounds but if we’re decent paying customers, wtf is your problem then? Thank you for the compliment but I don’t think I look THAT young. What a day. And we had to get up before midnight to pay for parking.


Weta Studios - where Sir Peter Jackson's visions become reality



My Precious...

The next day was much better and we spent it exploring Te Papa Museum and Weta Studios – home of The Lord of the Rings. They showed that amazing work that goes on behind the scnes. Makes you appreciate the skills, time, effort and money that go into entertaining us for a mere 2 hours. Was a pity we couldn’t meet up with Campbell though coz of his exams and we had to go off that eve.

East As

1 - 9 October 2010

Road trip No 2!! This time it's a week long trip along the remote east coast of New Zealand - Moari heartland where the horses roam free! Left Taupo to Napier and Hawke's Bay (Jerry's hometown), then Mahia to Gisborne (first CITY not place, in the world to see the sunrise), round the east coast to Tiki Tiki for a horse ride, Whakatane and finally back to Taupo.



Sweet as East As

 Napier's an art deco town. Built to resemble the art deco style of the states after the 1931 earthquake that destroyed the city. Went to Possum world - possum slippers cost NZ$99! And here I thought they were pests.


Above : Buildings b4 the 1931 quake
Below : Art-deco buildings after the quake

 Our trip to Hawke's Bay could not have been at a better time. Hawke's Bay Spring Carnival was on! Basically a whole day at the races where people come dressed to the nines with those huge hats. Loads of drunken teenages in the skimpiest outfits possible lolling around. Great for people watching. Sad to say, our incredible betting knowledge (which was zlich) won us absolutely nothing.

Hawke's Bay Race Day

Stayed with Jerry's brother Martin at Havelock North. Besides the races, we climbed a steep hill and went to the petting zoo where this really really cute lamb shat on me when I picked him up! It made Jerry's day that moment. Esh. But ahhh cho cute!!!!!


Bloody steep hill at Havelock North

Love the petting zoo!

Gisborne, the first CITY in the world to see the sunrise, was next on the itinerary. Note that it says CITY, not place. They're so kiasu that they had to have the shortest river in New Zealand at a few metres too.

Gisborne - 1st city in the world to see the sunrise

Gisborne's the last big town we were gonna pass before we enter the remote Maori heartland of the East. Jerry has a friend at Rangituki where he used to bring the Kiwi Experience backpackers touring East As so to Reg's farm it was for some awesome horse riding. I'm so pleased with myself as I managed a few canters albeit a slight mishap of me tumbling off War Lord when he transitted from canter to trot. Jerry was quite concerned.. how sweet of him. Lucky it was on the beach and I fell not that badly. Could have been worse but all's sweet.

War Lord (white) and Dreadlocks

Treated ourselves to a nice motel at Opitiki after days skimping in our tent. Great 8 day roadtrippin East As. Will be back for more horse riddin.

North Island Big Trip

9 -20 September 2010

After months of slaving away with work it was finally time for me to fly to New Zealand. Direct flights to Auckland are freakin expensive. MAS was like RM5200 and SIA RM4500 or sumthing. Found the cheapest way to travel. Thank God for AirAsia! Flight to Melbourne was bout RM1100 return and flew Melbourne - Auckland on Pacific Blue (Virgin's sis co) for bout RM1000. Not bad for the total cost huh? Only setback is that you gotta spend the night at Melbourne airport coz the flight reaches at midnight and the next flight out's at 10am the next morn. You can opt to stay at the airport hotel but that's another A$100 or more. Spent an uncomfortable but uneventful night on the food court's chairs.

Auckland's skyline

Auckland's pretty cool. Not as busy as KL but it has its own charms. Stayed at Jerry's sister Jane's place in New Lynn. Oh and met up with Shuk too! Elliot, Shuk's other half, cooked us beef rendang in conjunction with Hari Raya. So funny to have a gwailo cooking M'sian food haha.

As Jerry's Swiss friend Sandra was in NZ, we decided to wait for her and do a trip to Waiheke Island together. Waiheke's an island just a 40 min ferry ride from Auckland where rich people go to retire. Maybe like Bintan island is to Singapore?

Having Gluhwein at the backpackers

The weather's much better here than it was in rainy Auckland. Although it's so near, the sunny skies must have something to do with the protected coast or island weather. Did a few walks along the beach and to town. Visited a vinyard too.

The most memorable part of the trip was cooking a BBQ accompanied with Gluhwein (heated red wine mixed with spices) I brought from Germany. All the German girls said it smelt like Xmas. :)

The trip around the Coromandel was absolutely beautiful. I swear they have the best mussels in the world! Yumm!! Revisited places I went to when I did Kiwi Experience in 2005 such as the Cathedral Cove, Hot Water Beach and such but it was still good as I did it with Jerry this time. We even drove by Jerry's farm in Waihi which he sold a few years back (thank god! hahha it was in the middle of nowhere!)



Our trip from Auckland - Coromandel - Tauranga - Rotorua - Taupo



    

Coromandel Town, where the best mussels in the world are at

  

Revisiting Cathedral Cove

 

Jerry's old farm at Waihi

 

We headed up to Tauranga and Mt Maunganui next where Jerry's cousin Sandra stays. We came to see Jerry's Taupo soccer team play ?? damn can't remember. Anyway, Taupo won and the group photo with us in it came out in Taupo Times! Famous so fast hahha. After walking around the mountain seaside town, I realised I've been here before. Climbed the mount too. Stayed with Paul & Nise one night and Sandra's the next. Oh, and I went to my fist live rugby match - Bay of Plenty vs County Manukau. Bit dissapointed coz atmosphere was quite subdued. Maybe it was not that big a game. And it was sooo damn bloody cold! Bay of Plenty won anyways.  



My first live rugby match at Mt Maunganui



Evil smelling town of Rotorua

Quite enjoyed Mt Maunganui. Jerry was thinking to buy a house here coz of the surf. Poor boy, surf conditions were not on his side. Brought his surfboard all over but couldn't use it once.

Last part of our trip was to Rotorua - the evil smelling place hahha - coz of the sulphur in the air courtesy of its active geothermal activity. I was in Rotorua in 2001 & 2005 and damn have prices gone up! The geopark I went to in 2005 was bout NZ40. It's double now! Luge was NZ15. It's NZ35 now. What a rip off. Tourists will wise up soon then nobody will go to their exorbidantly priced attractions.



Didn't do much touristy stuff but we did walk the free geoparks to check out the boiling mud and all. Gardens look so beautiful with the spring flowers in bloom. They looked really pretty. Now this is what Spring is supposed to look like! Not the cold front I came into. Always liked Rotorua.

Colours of Spring 

Boiling mud pools & foul smelling steam

After more than a week on the road, we finally reached Taupo on 20 September 2010.



Lasangne Attempt #1

Decided to make lasangne for dinner today but found out we bought the 'wrong' type of lasgne. It came in the form of spiral ribbons instead of the normal flat sheets but what the heck, we'll make it anyway.

Haha wonder how we'll lay it out

Did it anyway. Here it is with the meat on top.

Jerry spreading the cheese sauce on top of the meat

Can't call it lasagne so we decided on Meaty-Cheese-Spiral Lasagne-Sandwich. And it was so good we all had seconds! Not much left at the end though :(

I'm here

Thursday 14 Oct 2010


Been in Kiwiland a month already! How time flies. Anyway, loving it here although it's cold but living with it.

Will update soon when I have time.