Mmmm...Crickets

We stopped by a "bug market" on our way to Phnom Penh and I couldn't resist the urge to try some insect delicacies. Bugs are pretty standard fare in Cambodia, where they are normally eaten with rice. Insect catching contraptions, made out of huge white tarp and hung on wooden sticks, are also found everywhere in the countryside.

This particular market had a whole bunch of insect, either sold fresh and cooked right then and there for you or those already cooked. When I got off the bus, sellers (mainly young girls) swarmed at us, trying to convince us to purchase all types of bugs.

Tarantula. *Shudder* I would have tried it if I didn't see the live version. Right when I got off the bus, they shoved this live tarantula in my face and I immediately lost my appetite.
Tarantulas are roasted and eaten whole.
This mountain of spiders looks appetizing, doesn't it?

Praying Mantis. I found these guys too pretty to eat. Beetles. They looked too much like cockroaches for me to stomach.

I stuck to crickets, which I considered a safer bet. These crickets are fried to a crispy goodness.

For 1,000 riel (only a few American cents), I got a small bag of crickets.

This little girl sold me the crickets also showed me how to eat them. You can either take off the wings and legs or just pop the whole bug in your mouth.
I was a bit hesitant at first because they really do look gross. I couldn't stop thinking about how it would look in my mouth as I would chew them--the body oozing insect juice on my tongue and the head crunching under my teeth. Uggh.
But, I got over myself and just popped the whole thing in my mouth. It was crunchy and honestly tasted like chips, a little salty like shrimp chips. No oozing insect juice. I was so surprised by the familiar taste that I began popping them in my mouth as if eating a bag of chips.

I ended eating most of it because I got hungry during my bus ride. One thing that really bothered me was the legs, which got stuck between my teeth so I spent much time during the rest of the bust ride to Phnom Penh irritatingly trying to pick them out.