One of my main aim going into the Bangkok trip was to taste some of the weird and wonderful foods the land of smile has to offer, something that is very difficult or impossible to get from Malaysia. This of course, would be the infamous deep fried worms, insects, and alike.
for a few ringgit, we got all these wonderful snacks
I was expecting fried insect stalls to be on every street corners. In actual fact, they are not very common. We weren’t able to locate anyone selling this for the first couple days of our stay. It was only on the 3rd night at Bangkok that Terence managed to buy a plastic bag full these weird and wonderful food from the streets near Pantip Mall (the one that is famous for selling Amulets, not the IT mall with the same name). Myself and Dree were overjoyed!
McBugs, McFrogs, and Worm Fries
Inside the goody bag there were worms, crickets, grasshoppers, dragonflies, praying mantis, and of course, those little fried frogs in whole. Not knowing exactly how to start, we first arranged them into McBugs, McFrogs, and Worm Fries combo meal. A couple minutes staring at these creatures, we decided to bite the bullet bugs and go straight to it to get the maximum taste instead.
having a feast!
I attacked the worms first. I don’t know if they were just worms or some insect larvae, but the slightly yellowish exterior sure looked a lot more inviting than the dark brown insects laying next to them. As it turns out, the worms were actually pretty good, slightly crunchy and tastes a lot better than the bee’s pupae I had in Vietnam. They were seasoned with salt and some spices, I believe.
my god, we were so proud of ourselves!
Next in line were all the different types of bugs. It was a bit weird chewing down grasshoppers, crickets, and so forth, but actually they too tasted quite ok, very crunchy and tasted a bit like having deep fried small prawns with shells on. Again, it was a little salty and slightly spicy. The different bugs basically tasted the same except but with slightly different textures, you can make out the long arms of praying mantis and the grasshopper’s legs in your mouth, neat.
naturally we finished the whole serving
The more difficult part of the snack attack session though, were the frogs. Unlike the familiar big fat frogs served in Malaysia, these are tiny frogs the size of fifty sen coins. They come with everything intact except for innards, so you get the whole head, the eyes staring at you, the legs, spines and all.
We threw it into our mouths and start chewing off, amazingly there were actually pretty tasty! Crunchy with slight taste of meat, it goes well with the seasoning and not too salty like the bugs. Once you get over the fact that you have to chew the entire head, it was all good!
Of course, we finished the entire serving and like little kids we just finished their vegetables, we were proud. If you’re going to Thailand, this is a must-have!
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By David on Apr 10, 2008 | Reply
Next time, tapau for us lah! hahaha go open a stall here in M’sia then we come support you ok? LOL
By kimberlycun on Apr 10, 2008 | Reply
wish i were there!
By skyler on Apr 10, 2008 | Reply
Haha I’d eat the frogs if it weren’t for the head T___T
By foodcrazee on Apr 10, 2008 | Reply
hahahahaha ! looks like u are ready for some tarantula in Cambodia . . .taste like some mushy chicken dude . . . .
By soohsia on Apr 10, 2008 | Reply
KY,i cant believe that u find it tasty! oh god!! maybe, next time, u tapau in put into sushi cicah with the wasabi.how’s that?
By KY on Apr 10, 2008 | Reply
David,
Mushy already if tapau all the way to M’sia.
kimberlycun,
There’s always next time.
skyler,
The head is the interesting part!
foodcrazee,
I would!
soohsia,
wasabi? Why spoil the natural taste? hehe
By twosuperheroes on Apr 10, 2008 | Reply
KY, then which one you enjoyed the most - the frog, worm or praying mantis?? :p
By KY on Apr 10, 2008 | Reply
twosuperheroes,
I like the worms & frogs the most, they are pretty different in taste and texture tho.
By adryazad on Apr 10, 2008 | Reply
aisay.. why u take picture of me in my underwear.. apa laa
By immi on Apr 10, 2008 | Reply
welcome home!
erm… dunno if i can stomach the food u tried other than the worms. haha.
those bugs with legs, wont the legs get caught in ur throat or something?
By sheryl on Apr 10, 2008 | Reply
O M G….speechless……..
By Yatz on Apr 10, 2008 | Reply
aaaah..exotic food..friend frog wtf..how bout ‘kung po frog’ instead
By KY on Apr 10, 2008 | Reply
adryazad,
Hensem kan? lol
immi,
Nay, won’t get caught in the throat. The key is to chew them throughly.
sheryl,
Yatz,
Friend frog? Are you one of the princes?
By wenqi on Apr 10, 2008 | Reply
*shudder
By davidlian on Apr 10, 2008 | Reply
I once tried the locusts / grasshoppers / crickets in Cambodia. Needless to say, one chomp and I spat the rest out. That’s enough experience.
A poor kid was passing by so we (Lydia and I) gave the kid the whole bag remaining.
By Klaw on Apr 10, 2008 | Reply
Yum! Wish I could have myself a McWorm now!
Ok, time to go puke first…
By KY on Apr 10, 2008 | Reply
wenqi,
I feed you ok?
davidlian,
Noob!!!!
Klaw,
Hahhahaha, teruk.
By Mei on Apr 10, 2008 | Reply
u guys look like you’re in ur element. should take up part time job as horror movie extra’s… lol.. great blog.. love the Mac Insects.. VERY creative/effective !
By Sammy on Apr 10, 2008 | Reply
Hahah… I want the worms!
By angel101 on Apr 10, 2008 | Reply
taste like chicken?
LOL….i wonder if i’ll be brave enough to stomach them when i go to Bangkok in June >.<
By A Married Man on Apr 10, 2008 | Reply
A Married Man feels queasy
By michaelooi on Apr 10, 2008 | Reply
I had grasshoppers, crickets, birdlings, scorpions and silkworm larvaes before.
The only thing I didn’t like was the scorpion because it had that hint of latex-cum-chlorine smell in it… the rest tasted pretty awesome
By Cheesecakeerian on Apr 10, 2008 | Reply
MmM… Yummy… *_*
By Terenceg on Apr 10, 2008 | Reply
micheal, it takes a brave man to explain the latex cum chlorine smell to us…..how u relate i don’t think i’ll ever wanna know
By aeroplane1234 on Apr 10, 2008 | Reply
i tell ya… u looked exactly like one of those thais…… sawadecup KY.
By gazard7 on Apr 10, 2008 | Reply
My god, not sure I have the courage to try these out. However, McD might like your ideas!
By Dabido (Anarchist Extraordinaire) on Apr 10, 2008 | Reply
I think I still someone to pass me a McBucket to chuck in!
By neko-hime on Apr 10, 2008 | Reply
KY - Gross lah …. *green*
By alvin on Apr 10, 2008 | Reply
you guys are gross… Unbelievable!!!
By JuLJuL on Apr 10, 2008 | Reply
Omg lah. Can’t believe you actually ate those icky and disgusting insects. Haha. Bravo!
By KY on Apr 10, 2008 | Reply
Mei,
Yes please intro some pro producers to us!
Sammy,
You’ll have your chances!
angel101,
Not exactly like chicken, more like fried shrimp instead.
A Married Man,
Why so weak? hahaha
michaelooi,
Please don’t use the word cum in there.. hahaha
Cheesecakeerian,
Best!
Terenceg,
Me neither.
aeroplane1234,
Hahaha, Dree looks more like Thai than me.
gazard7,
I’m not too sure about that.
Dabido,
LOL, noob!
neko-hime,
Hahahah, good idea.
alvin,
Best maaa, gotta try everything.
JuLJuL,
They’re best!!!
By angel101 on Apr 11, 2008 | Reply
Terenceg: maybe bite a condom and wash it down with a cup of water from the pool? just joking, don’t kill me *scurries to a corner*
By jack0 on Apr 11, 2008 | Reply
ewww… *vomit*
By Galvin Tan on Apr 11, 2008 | Reply
KY, you gotta check out what’s your ideal career here
http://blog.galvintan.com/2008/04/10/im-a-trained-assassin/
By Ally on Apr 11, 2008 | Reply
Never knew that they had fried frogs that looked like this…(goosebumps rising)..eeeehh.. it looks more like a frog squished by a car… I salute u guys for eating them!
By smashpOp on Apr 11, 2008 | Reply
oh noooooooooooooo bugssssssssssssss.
By hwchua on Apr 11, 2008 | Reply
the bugs still looks very disgusting
By Precious Pea on Apr 11, 2008 | Reply
O H….M Y……G O D !!!! YOU ATE THE ENTIRE FROG???!!! I just couldn’t overcome my fear when I see insects; dead or alive.
You are right, during my previous trips, can rarely see any fried insect stall on the street (not that I want to try). But i heard there is a permanent fried insect stall in their Tesco.
By titoki on Apr 11, 2008 | Reply
Holy worms. *cabut*
By KY on Apr 11, 2008 | Reply
angel101,
Ewwww
jack0,
You noob!
Galvin Tan,
LOL
Ally,
*bows*
Thank you thank you
smashp0p,
Best!
hwchua,
But delicious. hahaha
Precious Pea,
Hehehehhe
Why not?
titoki,
Holy best.
By Simon Seow on Apr 11, 2008 | Reply
You didn’t pack some for us? Whatler. -_-
By KY on Apr 12, 2008 | Reply
Simon Seow,
Hahaha, I don’t want to scare the customs!
By Marc on Apr 13, 2008 | Reply
OMG> I have been to Bangkok more than 10 times, but I never had the courage to try those worms, insects thingy. U guys are so brave.
By whateverthing inc. on Apr 13, 2008 | Reply
is it Mc. Worm?
By TZ on Apr 13, 2008 | Reply
those fried insert and frog were not my cup of tea… I’m not as adventure as what i could be when come to food…
I’m curious how’s those fried insert and frog taste like… :>
By KY on Apr 14, 2008 | Reply
Marc,
I’m sure you can, just be brave!
whateverthing inc,
Something like that.
TZ,
Tastes great, try it next time, keep your eyes closed.
By Bernsy on Apr 14, 2008 | Reply
oh man, do i miss those worms…. look so yummyyy….. did you bring some back ? can I come get some.. hahahaha
By KY on Apr 14, 2008 | Reply
Bernsy,
I heard they have it at pet stores.
By vialentino on Apr 14, 2008 | Reply
KY….jialat ler…each time i visit ur blog….u make me hunger and crave for food….the siu yok especially….nice to see u have a wonderful trip to bangkok.
By KY on Apr 14, 2008 | Reply
vialentino,
Except that there’s no siu yok in this post. Must be the next post you’re referring to. hehehe
By evolna on Apr 14, 2008 | Reply
I’ve wanted to try fried insects even since I saw them on tv when I was a kid!Didn’t had the chance to go thailand though:(
By KY on Apr 15, 2008 | Reply
evolna,
You can always buy them at pet stores and cook those insects yourself!
By Foong on Apr 15, 2008 | Reply
Ugghhh….looks like Fear Factor to me! The frog looks like roadkill! Now, if it were to look more delicious, I might even give it a try…It is all about presentation!
By KY on Apr 15, 2008 | Reply
Foong,
Of course you can always dress em up before eating them.
By Joshua on Apr 16, 2008 | Reply
OMG! U really had that?
I’ll be going to Bangkok this September and will seek seek around to try.
By KY on Apr 16, 2008 | Reply
Joshua,
Yeah, you shall do the same!
By liyuan on Apr 18, 2008 | Reply
omg i think i’m gonna barf
By KY on Apr 19, 2008 | Reply
liyuan,
Don’t be so weak!