Eating bugs is not a strange thing in Asian ergonomic landscape. But snacking on crickets and other crawling insects is more popular among Cambodians. In other Asian countries exotic foods, are served in specialty restaurants but in Cambodia, they are peddled in every corner of the country. Deep fried tarantulas, cockroaches and crickets, maggot shake, baked locusts and grasshoppers, pickled larvae and mealworms, you name it, they have them, and in abundance.
But according to Cambodians, there is a grim history behind this practice. Although making medicinal and food concoctions out of bugs and insects is a century-old practice among their ancestors, eating them became widespread only in the mid-70s during the Khmer Rouge genocide. From 1975 to 1979, the regime under Pol Pot has left the entire country starving and languishing. In order to survive, Cambodians then were forced to eat anything they presumed as edible.
Today, crickets, spiders and other crawling insects are considered to be a delicacy in Cambodia and other neighboring countries in Asia. Nutrition experts say, these creatures are rich in protein, folic acid and zinc and have medicinal properties.
Iowa State University Entomology Department has listed down some of the nutritional benefits found in insects as compared to beef and fish:
Giant Water Beetle
Protein (g) 19.8
Fat (g) 8.3
Carbohydrate 2.1
Calcium (mg) 43.5
Iron (mg) 13.6
Red Ant
Protein (g) 13.9
Fat (g) 3.5
Carbohydrate 2.9
Calcium (mg) 47.8
Iron (mg) 5.7
Silk Worm Pupae
Protein (g) 9.6
Fat (g) 5.6
Carbohydrate 2.3
Calcium (mg) 41.7
Iron (mg) 1.8
Dung Beetle
Protein (g) 17.2
Fat (g) 4.3
Carbohydrate .2
Calcium (mg) 30.9
Iron (mg) 5.7
Cricket
Protein (g) 12.9
Fat (g) 5.5
Carbohydrate 5.1
Calcium (mg) 75.8
Iron (mg) 9.5
Grasshopper
Protein (g) 20.6
Fat (g) 6.1
Carbohydrate 3.9
Calcium (mg) 35.2
Iron (mg) 5.0
June Beetle
Protein (g) 13.4
Fat (g) 1.4
Carbohydrate 2.9
Calcium (mg) 22.6
Iron (mg) 6.0
Catterpillar
Protein (g) 28.2
Fat (g) N/A
Carbohydrate N/A
Calcium (mg) N/A
Iron (mg) 35.5
Termite
Protein (g) 14.2
Fat (g) N/A
Carbohydrate N/A
Calcium (mg) N/A
Iron (mg) 35.5
Weevil
Protein (g) 6.7
Fat (g) N/A
Carbohydrate N/A
Calcium (mg) N/A
Iron (mg) 3.5
Beef (Lean Ground)
Protein (g) 27.4
Fat (g) N/A
Carbohydrate N/A
Calcium (mg) N/A
Iron (mg) 3.5
Fish (Broiled Cod)
Protein (g) 28.5
Fat (g) N/A
Carbohydrate N/A
Calcium (mg) N/A
Iron (mg) 1.0
