These little critters are called maeng ee-nyow, and no they aren’t the common cockroach. Some kind of water bug. Now that people know I’ll eat insects they buy them and cook them up when they see them at the market. Perhaps I need to drop some hints about my fondness for Belgian chocolate too.
We ate the ee-nyow last night in an ought. Ought is made with dill, pulverized sticky rice, some bai kee hoot leaves and other secret ingredients. Like any other ought I’ve eaten, ought maeng ee-nyow tastes overwhelmingly like dill. The only thing insect about it was that it was slightly crunchy. To tell the truth the part I didn’t like much was the slimy mushrooms. I’m not sure what kind they are but they seem tough and slimy.
The only other insect I’ve eaten lately was some maeng kok at Pak Mong above Luang Prabang. They are a classic looking beetle like the Maeng Kii Kwai except bigger. About the size of your thumb. They were barbequed and I couldn’t taste any marinade, just beetle. I gave a pass on the heads, too hard, but the bodies were good. I bought barbequed duck at the same time and that tasted better.
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