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.
- Boil larvae and separate from the comb
- Salt and sun-dry
- 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.
- Roast the giant water bug
- Pound the bug with chilli
- 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.
- Wikipedia, Nam phrik and Shrimp paste (outline only)
- Kiatbenjakul P., Intarapichet K.O., Cadwallader K.R. 2015, Characterization of potent odorants in male giant water bug (Lethocerus indicus Lep. and Serv.), an important edible insect of Southeast Asia, Food Chemistry 168:639–647 (abstract)
- Mahidsanan T., Srinamngoen P., Sittisart P. 2026, Unraveling microbial diversity and physicochemical hazard level in Thai traditional fermented shrimp paste (Kapi), PeerJ 14:e20864