Bangkok Unusual Delicacies

A stroll around Bangkok can be a surprise-filled adventure. Where else would you see an elephant walking among party-goers on the streets at midnight? To make your excursion even more exciting, take a closer look at the food stalls. You'll most likely see hungry night owls flocking around a noodles stall for a midnight snack. Hungry or not, take a good look to see what's else is cooking...

If you're in luck, you might stumble upon a stall with silver trays containing nothing else but the delicacies of Thailand - the multi-legged snacks. These bugs are usually fried or roasted with sprinkles of chili, salt or pepper. The most well-known is probably fried grasshoppers, which are fried alive and with all their physical detail intact. You should remove the head, insides, wings (if any) and legs before you eat it. It's crunchy and very tasty (or so they say). The variety of stomach-turning snacks also include water roaches, beetles, bamboo caterpillars, ants and ant eggs, crickets, and even scorpions and little frogs. As with most delicacies, it is an acquired taste. But what is true is that these bugs are high in protein, and you'll have hours of fun boasting to friends back home about your adventurous culinary experience - especially with photographs as evidence!

Save the last dancing shrimp for me!

It just can't get any fresher than this! A bunch of alive and kicking (quite literally) small shrimps are thrown into a bowl, where they are then smothered with 'yum' (spicy salad) ingredients comprising ground roasted rice, ground chili, fish sauce and a dash of freshly-squeezed lime juice. The result is an appetizing dish aptly called 'goong ten' (dancing shrimps).

As you can probably tell, the name of the dish derives from the fact that these tiny creatures are still leaping and bouncing around when the piquant condiments are being tossed over at them. Once everything is blended, the dish is normally served with some kind of lid on top to prevent the 'overdancing'. You think that's fascinating? Wait until you actually put them in your mouth. Interestingly, the shrimps have more than enough energy to continue skipping and hopping in your mouth. The sensation of small creatures hitting your palate is a unique experience - a perfect complement to fried grasshoppers, in fact!

For those with a fragile stomach but would like to host a shrimps' party in your mouth, try a less bouncier (not to mention safer) version where shrimps are cooked before they're being 'yum'd' into a yummy dish!