White Ant Eggs

... some alley off Sukhumvit, Bangkok, Thailand

The Sukhumvit area of Bangkok is a paradise for the amateur adventure eater. From weird, unidentifiable bugs served by multi-gendered street vendors, to odd goat parts in strictly halal restaurants, and even a condom restaurant. We'd already eaten all the insects we could find, and after a few shots of various exotic liquors, we found a soup vendor with a large bucket of what looked like ... maggots. Gastronaut gold!



These were the fabled white ant eggs we'd been looking for, finally!


Collage of white ant eggs, larvae, and baby ants in our soup.

Most of them were plain white, about the size of puffed rice, but some of them had little black eye balls, and some of them were half egg / half embryo. And there were a few fully born ants in the mix as well.

The soup was awesome. Why can't the rest of the world do street food as good as Thailand? The little ant babies were soft and had a subtle peppery taste. Some of the plump ones popped in our mouth. These would be a fine addition to your morning Frosted Flakes -- ants are one of the most efficient ways to get protein.


Yum!