Thai Food Ant Egg Tom Yam Kai Mot Deng A Northern Speciality
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Thai Food Ant Egg Tom Yam
Anyone for Ant egg Tom Yam. This is a favourite dish in North Eastern Thailand and quite a delicacy. I have in the past seen people eating this and that’s fine so long as they don’t make it compulsory. Lol
(khai mot daeng) refer to both the eggs and pupae of weaver ants (known in Thailand as red ants), that are harvested and consumed as food in several countries across Southeast Asia, especially Laos and Northeastern Thailand (Isan). They are high in protein. Red ants eat mango leaves so their bodies taste like a squirt of lime, but their fresh eggs are fatty and sweet.
Red ant eggs are cooked in types of food such as Spicy Raw Ant Egg Salad. ก้อยไข่มดเเดง seems to be the most popular dish. Because they contain acetic acid, red ant eggs are used instead of lemon juice or vinegar in many Thai dishes.
Red ant eggs can be used medicinally. Inhaling them while grinding them can relieve blackouts and dizziness. Boiling them with salt and drinking the result can immediately relieve constipation. They can be used to exterminate pests such as insect larvae and aphids, because they are the ants’ food.
Weaver ants
The ant eggs come from the red weaver ants from the genus,Oecophylla that weave a nest of silk for their egg development. These nests are easy to spot, but not easy to reach in most cases. If you try to cut the branch a nest is hanging from, the red weaver ants quickly cover your arm and body and bite and hang on to your skin.
Thai Food Ant Egg Tom Yam