The Flavors of Insect Street Food in Thailand

Taste of insect dishes on the streets of Thailand

For a long time, Thai cuisine attracts tourists thanks to the sophistication and strangeness in the food forest. Many Thai tourists who see Thai insects for the first time feel scared and astonished, but after tasting you will no longer feel fear, but instead enjoy and excited and finally be fascinated.

Thai Fried Insect is one of Thailand's favorite foods, you will find it at the night markets, with countless street foods. The night market is the address to enjoy the most attractive fried insect dishes in Thailand. With the street vendors, dozens of insects are fried golden attractive.

The dishes made from insects sold on the streets of Thailand always attract the attention of many Thai tourists. Mobile insect specialty stalls are pushed by vendors on the streets, in amusement parks on the streets of Thailand until 2 am. In the past, the use of insects for food was common only in the poor northeastern provinces of Thailand. But along with the wave of rural-to-city migrants during the economic boom in the late 1980s and early 1990s, insect dishes were also brought with them.

Insect Street Food in Thailand

The insects make a special dish taste

In Thailand, insects are a favorite food for many - not just the rural poor. More than 200 different species are provided. The country has to import large quantities of insects from Cambodia, China, Laos, and Myanmar. Domestically, this food is sold at a higher price than chicken, beef, or pork.

• Scorpion: In many countries like Thailand and China, scorpions are often fried, eaten crunchy, and taste like soft shell crab meat.

• Grasshopper: Roasted grasshoppers are quite a popular insect dish, and are considered crunchy, fragrant, fat. Thai people like to eat roasted grasshoppers with lemon leaves. In Mexico, roasted grasshoppers are also sandwiched on taco cake to eat.

Grasshopper insect food

• Silkworm: Silkworms (larvae of moths) are fried and roasted into delicacies in some countries such as Thailand, Korea, and Vietnam.

• Honey worm: The caterpillar worm is originally used to make pet food but is then processed by other Thai people into other dishes such as cakes or burgers.

• Worm: Iron-rich earthworms are a favorite food in some countries like Venezuela and Croatia. Vietnamese are also interested in earthworms because they can treat body weakness, high blood pressure, malaria, fever...

• Cricket: Fried and roasted crickets are popular dishes in many countries such as Cambodia, Thailand, Mexico, Vietnam, and France. Besides fried, roasted, cricket covered with chocolate is also quite popular.

Fried insects are the most widely sold street food in this city. Fried insects will quickly sell out when bars are closed. Often girls buy something to eat before going home and fried insects are their favorite food. Currently, fried insect dishes are very popular because they contain a lot of calcium and do not cause obesity.

Many insects are used by business people to make dishes such as crickets, grasshoppers, cockroaches, beetles, bamboo worms, and ant eggs... but the most popular insects are grasshoppers.

Roads selling insect dishes in Thailand

• Khao San Street

Visiting Khao San street and tasting the scary reptiles here is an experience not to be missed. You'll find loads of strollers with all sorts of reptiles, from scorpions, black spiders to silkworms. There are also freelance sellers, with a tray of crunchy snacks to choose from. Khao San Road is not on any platform, so the easiest way to get here is to take a taxi. A driver will know the exact route if a tourist says he wants to go to Khao San.

• Chinatown

Far away on Yaowarat Road, there are a lot of insect sellers. Chinatown is considered to be the area with the most food worth trying in Bangkok, which cannot mention the famous insect dish. You will find crickets the size of a palm or fat larvae. To get here, take the subway at Hua Lamphong Station and exit at exit 1.

You can also come here by boat. To any pier on Chao Phraya River, the easiest is from Saphan Taksin Pier to Ratchawong Pier. From here, you go straight and will come to the Grand China Hotel located on the famous Yaowarat road.

Insect sold on the street of Chinatown

• Patpong

Besides go-go bars, the red light district in Patpong is also known for its terrifying reptiles. Taste the different species of bugs here, such as ants, water bugs, or beetles, you will find these delicious crunchy dishes. After swallowing these insects, you will sometimes see a few of their feet stuck in your teeth. Take the SkyTrain to Sala Daeng Station and exit at exit 1 to get to these edible insects. The MRT also goes to Patpong: get off at Si Lom Station and exit at exit 2.

The taste of dishes made from insects is always very special. It is favored by many Thai people and tourists to Thailand. Dishes from insects are not only Thai specialties, but they are also tourist attractions with many unique cultures.

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(Image sources: Internet)