Thai Treats: Roasted Giant Water Bugs

bugman

January 7th, 2008 at 1:00 am

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Giant Water Bugs
I have enjoyed reading your informational site. I borrowed one of your photos to illustrate the portion of meat I ate when stationed in Thailand in 1969. The Giant Water Bugs were collected under the street lights at the Korat Air Base, in central Thailand. The native guards would roast them over a little campfire. They taught me to stick a bamboo skewer into the abdomen and slowly roast them. They peeled the exoskeleton behind the head to reveal a tasty morsel of white meat. The taste reminded me of a small sweet scallop. The guard did not have me eat the whole bug, but I understand they can be fried or roasted and eaten whole. At the time the locals called them Baht Bugs because the people could sell them for 1 Baht each at the market. The value was 5 cents at the time. That was fairly valuable since a man working hard labor in the hot sun would only make 15 cents per hour. Our guard supplemented his income by collecting dozens of the Water Bugs, putting them in burlap bags.
I forgot to add my name Thanks for maintaining such a great website.
Lucky Ketcham
San Diego, CA

Hi Lucky,
Thanks for the great anecdote. We will post your letter to our Edible Insects page.

Bug of the Month: June 2008 – Giant Water Bug (May 25, 2008)
Giant Water Bug Swarm (May 19, 2008)
Giant Water Bug (August 20, 2007)
Giant Water Scavenger Beetle (June 11, 2007)
Giant Water Bug from Peru (March 15, 2009)

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From Edible Bugs: The Greenest Protein Source on Earth | WebEcoist on 07 Jul 2009 at 5:37 pm ¶
[...] beetles are fried or roasted and are said to have a flavor that is not unlike scallops. They are a cheap treat in Thailand, where they are readily available in the wild and are eaten [...]