Ten Crazy Things I have Eaten in Thailand

First, I had never eaten crab before going to Thailand. When I found a little one in my papaya salad I figured I would try to eat it (whole) and take a picture of the feat. I did not know you weren’t supposed to eat the crunchy shell or claws. My host family decided not to tell me and just watch. It hurt going down!

 At one point during my semester abroad we got to set nets with some fishermen. The next morning we emptied the nets, recorded the catch, and then fried up the fish then and there. For those who know me, seafood isn’t my specialty, but these fish were good! If you look at the picture carefully you will see we also caught—much to the fishermen’s surprise—a Burmese python. It was cooked up and eaten, although I was somewhere else and missed out on that rubbery opportunity.

That fishing community is where we did a several day long homestay. One morning I got ready and sat down at the table and my host mother brought me veggies, eggs and rice in a bowl. To my surprise the eggs has a pleasant tasting pop to them. Upon further discovery I found that in my chicken eggs were red ant eggs—a local delicacy and somewhat expensive at markets. The picture below shows my lesson in harvesting red ant eggs. Word of advice: use the camera zoom, because I had some of these little monsters climbing up my legs while I shot this picture.

Warning, this picture is rated PG-13. We were in Southern Thailand in a Muslim village. Our last night together we celebrated with fresh goat curry. (I had to delete several pictures in my camera after this one, as they were bloody and sad.)

Ice cream sandwiches in Thailand are amazingly delicious. Every morning during our 4 hour thai lessons the ice cream man came around and for 30 cents each we got a refreshing treat. It is perhaps not crazy that I ate ice cream while in a hot, tropical country. It is however worthy of note that ice cream sandwiches in Thailand are tasty coconut ice cream and sticky rice slid between two slices of bread. Quite literally a sandwich.

Jumping shrimp. No bigger than a knuckle on the pinkie finger. But very much squirming and active. The only thing I have ever eaten alive. They tasted fine if you could get past all the little legs and feelers.

This picture shows a member of my host family eating eggs and rice for breakfast. Again, this food is not crazy, although most Americans wouldn’t put those two foods together. The crazy part is that I ate this 3 times a day for almost three weeks while backpacking in Northern Thailand. And it is very yummy. This is still a go-to food for me; Lek makes it for me in minutes if the food he is eating is too spicy.

Ah, calamari. Who knew this picky eater would eat squid, like it, and then purposefully look for more squid to eat? The first two pictures I am with Lek. We went on a midnight “fish for squid” trip. We both got two. I was kind of expecting larger squid, but then again my idea of squid come from the books I read where the squid pick their beaks with puny sperm whale remains. So I guess I am happy with just the small ones. In the last picture I decided eating squid outside of the movie theater was a good pirate-y act before watching Pirates of the Caribbean 4.

 Pizza isn’t crazy. But it is crazy hard to find and crazy expensive compared to normal Thai food. The first month I was in Thailand I didn’t have cheese once, and I am a cheese 2 out of 3 meals a day kind of girl. I think you can tell by the entranced look on my face that I was delighted to eat pizza! (I look somewhat like Gollum did when he held The Ring)

One last food I had in Thailand. For each of my three month-long travels with my school we were given a huge bag of trail mix filled with nuts and fruit. This bag saved me from hunger when I couldn’t eat the spicy food given to me. The fruit and nuts also helped balance out a diet of solely eggs, rice, and vegetables.

What I do not have picture proof of: eating a hot pepper (as per dare by Lek, and eating a cucumber to stop my mouth from burning). I ate deep fried bamboo worms—Lek ate them like chips, and they tasted fine but I had to train myself not to look at it too closely. Lek also cooked up turtle for me once. Finally, I ate frog several times. During rainy season my host family would go out to the rice fields at night with flashlights and we would catch dozens of frog together. My favorite frog memory is that once when I had an upset stomach Lek lovingly bought me fried frogs to eat. Isn’t he thoughtful?

What I hope to soon add to my list are: snake, scorpion, tarantula, rat, and other assorted deep-fried bugs and seafood. More for the bragging rights and the sake of adventure than cherishing the idea of sticking a spider leg in my mouth. Although, Lek loves eating rat and says they are very delicious. I will keep an open mind, and open belly, and a cautiously open mouth for the next foods I try in Thailand.