Saturday, April 19, 2014

Fried insects at Chaweng Walking Street Night Market

This was probably one of the hardest posts that I've done because I could not stop gagging and dry heaving with tears streaming down my face.  When I took the pictures at the Night Market, I dry an audience of spectators with my response to the Mo eating the insects.  They all thought it was hilarious that I was trying to take pictures of him yet kept having to pause and want to puke.  None the less, I didn't puke but as I am editing the photos, the gag reflex is all to familiar.


A few nights a week, a Walking Street Night Market is held in Chaweng starting at 5:00 PM.  It's a good size but significantly smaller than Krabi's Walking Street Market.


There is a stage with a band that plays cover music and a large audience to watch and singalong too.  I got really excited when "Sweet Caroline" came on.  The crowd is both locals and tourists from all over the world.




There are different food vendors lined up to sell you eggrolls, seafood & meat skewers, chicken, pad thai, dumplings and more.





To wash it all down, there are lots of "make shift" bars that serve all the popular cocktails for 70 THB (a little over $ 2.00 USD)





Of all the stands, there was one that I found the most interesting, they sold fried insects.  There were silk worms, grasshoppers and other ones that I could not identify.

Eating insects is popular in Southeast Asia.  Many would even say that it's quite the delicacy.  My cousin Date, who lives in the states actually eats the silk worms on the regular.  They ship them to the states frozen and he likes them lightly toasted in the skillet.  They are also sold in small cans and available at the Asian supermarkets.

This was a different experience.  The Mo was about to eat things with legs and visible eyes and something that resembled a large cockroach.

To my surprise, the price for the small bowl was 30 THB (about $ 1 USD)


As I took pictures of him, my gag reflex kicked in and I was unstoppable.  People were watching us and enjoying the show.  Needless to say, we made new friends afterwards and exchanged blog links.

The Mo started off with the grasshoppers. He said it was crispy and not bad.


Next up was a mystery "stomach lining", it doesn't really fall in the insect category but still difficult to watch.


He didn't have any issues with the silk worms but the cockroach looking thing was the hardest to watch but he did it and I dry heaved some more.


After our stunt, we shared the goods with a kid from England.  He actually enjoyed it and kept eating it.  Kudos to him! I'd like to think I'm a foodie but I'm all set with that!