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Fermentation Atlas

Insects

Insects and insect products that are fermented.

5 entries listed here.

Compare them

FermentRegionMain stepTemperatureSaltpH
Chí hǎi (ant-egg paste), historicalAncient China3.3 months
Fermented silkworm pupae seasoning (modern)China10 days32 °C
Grasshopper garum (Nordic Food Lab)Denmarkat least 2.3 months40 °Cat least 10 %4.9
Fermented bee larvae (U Minh)Vietnam3–4 days
Nam phrik maeng da (giant water bug chilli sauce)Thailand

Bold names have a full page with the animated steps. Blank cells: no sourced value yet.

Short entries

What the sources record about each of these so far.

Fermented bee larvae (U Minh)Vietnam

Fermented bee larvae that keep a week normally, or a month refrigerated; given as Tết gifts in Cà Mau.

  1. Boil larvae and separate from the comb
  2. Salt and sun-dry
  3. Mix with ground fried rice and ferment3–4 days
Nam phrik maeng da (giant water bug chilli sauce)Thailand

Also called น้ำพริกแมงดา.

Nam phrik maeng da is a Thai nam phrik (chilli sauce) that includes roasted, pounded giant water bug (maeng da, Lethocerus indicus). Nam phrik sauces often contain a fish or shrimp paste such as kapi, a fermented shrimp paste. The sources we read do not list the ingredients of this one.

  1. Roast the giant water bug
  2. Pound the bug with chilli
  3. Add shrimp paste, if used

Safety: Kapi quality depends on hygiene and salt; a Thai study found Staphylococcus aureus, Bacillus cereus and Clostridium perfringens in some market kapi and proposed 25 % (w/w) salt as a standard. It also says 25 % salt alone cannot make kapi safe without good hygiene and control of temperature and humidity.

Numbers come from cited sources and carry a label that says how each is known. How this atlas is made