Eating Spiders in Cambodia

Location: Cambodia.

Spiders. Along the road north from Phnom Penh (Cambodia's capital city) to Angkor Wat (famous ancient temples), a town called Skuon is famous for edible spiders. These spiders look similar to furry North American tarantulas. There are road-side street vendors with large woks filled with oil for deep-frying the crispy critters. The spiders are breed in holes in the ground near the town.



I had been dozing off on the bus, but the dusty, frenetic road stop in Skuon jarred me awake. My Cambodian friend reminded me this was the town famous for edible spiders. He pointed out of the bus as we unboarded, to a row of street vendors standing behind large woks heated by trash-can barrel ovens. "Sometimes a few spiders get away, so watch your feet, don't want them to bite." I looked down at my Tevas sandals and shrugged, blinded by my white feet.

There they were, stacks of whole crispy-fried spiders. We ordered about 10 to share, and the vendor placed them into a plastic bag. A true road-side snack, we munched away on these as the bus drove us north to the ancient wonder of Angkor Wat. Some eat them straight like a sandwich, others pull off one or two legs at a time and eat them like french fries. My first time, I was methodical, tasting one leg at a time -- there are 8 of them, of course -- and finally eating the body in two sections. I found it easier to palate the body after the legs had been removed. I also found that a few cans of cold Angkor beer helped get me in the mood, and to wash down the grease.

There are two sections of the body, and the back with the pinchers is the best. The poison is killed when the spider is fried, but it doesn't nullify the medicinal quality -- good for coughs.

Only one of our Cambodian companions declined offers to munch on spider meat. He said he'd had enough of eating spiders to survive the Khmer Rouge years. (More on that later).

Verdict: Actually quite good! No it doesn't taste at all like fried chicken. Some think it tastes like crab, but I didn't find the resemblance. The taste itself is not strong, it's the cripsy-chewy texture that is most appealing. Make sure you have some paper napkins, as the black juice from these is greasy and it doesn't look good on your goatee. I've eaten about 10 insect-type creatures now, and these spiders are my favorite.