Probably the most glowing article on the Mang Da (Giant Waterbug) ever written (no kidding!) and complete with a recipe and a video…
My eyes grew wide as the woman dug deep into the freezer, reaching under packages of fish, ice cream and silkworm pupae before finally pulling out a small Styrofoam container of what were unmistakably whole mang da. Even after that, she seemed surprised and amused when I wanted to actually purchase the insects ($3.50). I told her I had heard the flavor is very unique, and she agreed. At home, I tasted the artificial nam prik mang da on sliced raw veggies such as carrot, celery, cucumber and Thai eggplant. Later, I used the real bugs to make nam prik mang da from scratch.
I’ve heard that mang da essence is so powerful it has to be added to dishes as a droplet on the end of a toothpick. The store-bought nam prik contains only 1% essence, but it permeated my nostrils from the moment I opened the jar. I could feel it in my nose and mouth, like alcohol or the powerful musk of a stink bug, which it probably shares more than a few molecules with. The Greek poet Sappho described her love for another woman not as bittersweet but “sweetbitter” (glukúpikron). That’s how I would describe the initial scent of mang da: sweetbitter.
And it smells exactly how it tastes. There are two competing flavors, as though you had decided to eat two different jellybeans together: one fruit, one licorice. I was reminded of sweet anise or tarragon on the one hand, pear or green apple on the other. The flavor seems to linger with a hint of a cooling sensation, like mint or Szechuan pepper.
