In Cambodia…
Old men fry tarantulas in chili oil. People snack on crispy grasshoppers like they would a bag of Cheetos. Buckets of crickets, grasshoppers and giant water bugs lay next to yams, cilantro and curry leaves in the intimidating culinary scene of Cambodia’s markets.
There’s a long tradition of insects as food in Cambodia. During the famine created by the late 1970s Khmer Rouge regime, bugs became a crucial “hunger food” for Cambodians who survived off tarantulas, crickets, grasshoppers and silkworms for years. Nowadays, the bug diet has resurged thanks both to cryptic nostalgia and the insects’ cheap and plentiful source of proteins and micronutrients.
