A Bucket of Crickets

Location:
Cambodia, Siem Reap

food, adventure, Siem Reap

By Jacqui Menard

Deep fried Skuon spiders were not on the entrée menu that afternoon; our group had the luxury of crickets. I reached in, took a deep breath and pulled out the biggest one I could find. I popped him in my mouth, closed my eyes, crunched down on his thorax, swallowed and felt his super fine hairs tickle at my throat. I opened my eyes, one at a time, cleaned my teeth with my tongue and thought, ‘I just ate a cricket?’

Cambodia’s food culture is very colorful. From exotic combinations of mint and lemon grass, to fish sauce and sticky rice, there are no boundaries to the culinary delights this thriving South- East Asian country has to offer.

***

At first glance it didn’t look like this was going to be any ordinary dining experience. Bamboo mats took the place of tables and chairs, people lounged around in hammocks, and employees chopped and washed vegetables on the floor, while street cats meandered around dishes and between customers.

I entered the restaurant, which was propped up on stilts, took off my shoes and sat along side my friends on the floor. My stomach churned in anticipation as I was welcomed by a giant bowl of bright yellow durian fruit. I dove in and felt the flesh of the durian slide between my fingers, embed itself under my nails and make its way into my mouth. It was creamy, sweet, milky and pungent. My taste buds were in frenzy, and my sense of smell was confused as I pulled the pit from my mouth, studied it and wondered how something that smells like garbage and gasoline could taste so good.

Known to many as ‘the king of fruits,’ the durian is most notable for its distinctive spiky shell, bright yellow flesh and unique aroma. In Cambodia, these fruits grow in abundance in the Memot and Kampot regions and are considered some of the world’s finest.

I finished the last of my fruit, and wiped my mouth on the back of my hand just in time for the delivery of our main course.

***

Our lunch began with a watery soup. It consisted of gritty green vegetables, garlic and chilies. Our tour guide Lilly, ladled out our bowls and waited patiently for our verdict. We smiled as we slurped back the long stringy veggies and then gave her the thumbs up.

I picked up my bowl, gulped down the last of my soup, and crunched down on half a dozen chopped chilies. Suddenly, beads of sweat poured down my forehead and pooled themselves in the nape of my neck. I sucked in air and fanned myself frantically in an attempt to make peace with the inferno in my mouth.

‘Drink?’ asked Lilly.

I nodded; she got up and began to take orders from the rest of our group. I watched as she left our circle, found a waitress and orders were passed on in the sweet melody of the Khmer language. The waitress nodded in compliance, walked over to a massive bin beside our group and began to count out twenty two coconuts. Intrigued by her every move, I watched as she picked up a machete and began to viciously hack away at the hard green skin that encompassed our drinks.

The waitress handed me the first coconut. I smiled and thanked her, sucked back on my straw and watched wide eyed as two massive plates of steaming meat were brought out. The smell of the meat was enticing. Its aroma permeated garlic; it looked tough and crispy and was dripping with hot oil.

To start, I was offered a plate of rice. In Cambodia, about seventy percent of the countries land is cultivated for rice growing. However, the rice in Cambodia is unlike any other type of rice in South- East Asia: It’s partially cooked and has a somewhat crunchy bite to it.

I reached across our mat and took hold of the closest plate. It was a mixture of meats, some I could recognize and others I couldn’t. After serious debating, I decided on a piece of charred black fish, an oily leg of chicken and a skewer of brown meat.

At this particular restaurant we were given no cutlery and as the saying goes, ‘When in Rome!’

I lifted the plate to my chin, molded a clump of rice into a ball with my fingers and shoved it into my mouth. I chewed my food slowly, savored every bite and couldn’t help but to notice that our group was being watched. Customers spied on us with smiles on their faces. I smiled back, swallowed, picked up my skewer and attacked my stick of mystery meat. It was different, tasty and quite dry.

‘What is this?’ I asked perplexed.

‘Frog,’ laughed my good friend before she proceeded to tell me stories about my childhood hero Kermit the Frog.

The food culture in Cambodia is without a doubt quite unique. This is because a lot of the country’s culinary influences can be traced back to monumental events in history. Colonized by the French in the 1860’s, frog legs, fine breads and roasted turtle still manage to find their way onto menus today. Other culinary influences extend from China, as well as from Cambodia’s long outstanding relationship with its southern most neighbor, Vietnam. Today, national delicacies such as spiders, crickets, wasps and beetles continue to make appearances on dinner plates nation wide. These grubs have transformed themselves from insects locals ate to survive during the reign of the Khmer Rouge, to a fried snack that for me proved not only savory and tasty, but also quite memorable.

Further Information

Travel tips: -be open and willing to try some of the exciting cultural cuisine here

Must see/do at this place: Bantey Bay, Bantey Samre Temples

Boat trip to Tonle sap Floating Villages,Bayon Temple, Baphoun Temple,

Phimean Akas,

Terrace of Elephant

Sunset on Bakheng Hill