Thursday, April 25, 2013

Collecting Red Ant Eggs to Eat! at Thai Secret Cooking School

Hunting down a Delicacy : Collecting Ant Eggs, A Edible Treat in The North of Thailand, Requires Skill and Patience.
 
In the North of Thailand Red Ants are making nests in Mango trees and Longan trees, the eggs in the nest are cleaned and eaten: a rare and special food.
 
"Mod Dang" Red Ant = Oecophylla Smaragdina 
 
 

 
 
 
We were exited when we got a special request asking if during our Thai Cooking Class we could go out and try hunting "Red Ant Eggs" to cook and eat. It seems that some how we are always finding ways to go off and play. So on the morning of April 20th, We went to pick up our hunters from www.JuniorGuestHouse.com
 

'Our fun day begins!! Let Hunting Ant Eggs!!'

We had prepared the equipment, 1. A long Bamboo stick 2. A big bucket with a bit of tapioca flour in the bottom. Then we tied them together.
Uncle "Ar non" showed how to break the Ant nest.


 
Matt  (one of our lovely guests) was trying to break the first Nest ! It was not as easy as he thought and the ant nest was to high - then hundred of ants started falling on us and loving us with little bites!
 



 



          We keep moving from one mango tree to another, this process took about an hour.
 
  
 
Here are some Videos of our Ant Hunter Team!!
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 


 
 
Finally we have ant eggs..!! yeaaaaa, and we tried to separated the pearly-white egg that are about 0. 2 cm in size and fragile, from the pinchy red ants and the queen ant (which is not easy ) The queen ant can be deep-fried and eaten as a snack, However they are less prized than the eggs.
 
 A funny video for you,  I named the video "Ant Hunter Dance"
 
"Action"
 
 
 




 

 
 
After having a big fight with the red ants and hot weather, we took a break by walking through our farm and paddy field to get some fresh air and I showed them how we grown rice and harvest rice.
 
 
 
 
 
 

Cooking a Delicacy at Thai Secret Cooking School

We Offer More Than Just A Cooking Class! Come Join Us.

After having our fun collecting the ant eggs, we begin cooking, I was very surprised that everyone in my class could eat very spicy food.
 
 
  The ant eggs are cleaned and ready to cook "Ant egg soup"
"A roi" it means taste "Good"
 
 



 
Cooking at home, I am aways happy when I see that my guest are relaxing and feel comfortable like their home. 
I always say "Please make yourself comfortable at home" and I say it from my heart.
 
 
The out side of the house was quit hot, why not to cool down with some beer! :)
 enjoy your meal.
 
 
 
 To cook a good food we need fresh ingredients, we pick our fresh ingredient from our Organic garden!!
 








 
Not only fresh herbs and ingredients, we also use the best quality of seasoning. Before we bring our guest to cook at home, we always stop at the local market to learn about Thai herb and ingredients.
 

 
It was such a enjoyable and fun day, Thank you very much for joining us.
Everyone was a little tired from hunting, cooking and eating all day long, We went back to the hotel around 4:30 pm.