Fried spider is a regional

snack A snack is a small portion of food generally eaten between meals. Snacks come in a variety of forms including packaged snack foods and other processed foods, as well as items made from fresh ingredients at home. Traditionally, snacks are ...

Cambodia Cambodia (; also Kampuchea ; km, កម្ពុជា, UNGEGN: ), officially the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country located in the southern portion of the Indochinese Peninsula in Southeast Asia, spanning an area of , bordered by Thailand ...

. In the Cambodian town of

Skuon Skuon ( km, ស្គន់) is the district capital of Cheung Prey District, in Kampong Cham Province, Cambodia. This busy market town has grown up around the intersection of National Highway 6 and National Highway 7. Skuon is around west of ...

( Cheung Prey, Kampong Cham Province), the vending of fried

spider Spiders (order Araneae) are air-breathing arthropods that have eight legs, chelicerae with fangs generally able to inject venom, and spinnerets that extrude silk. They are the largest order of arachnids and rank seventh in total species ...

s as a specialty snack is a popular attraction for tourists passing through this town. Spiders are also available elsewhere in Cambodia — in

Phnom Penh Phnom Penh (; km, ភ្នំពេញ, ) is the capital and most populous city of Cambodia. It has been the national capital since the French protectorate of Cambodia and has grown to become the nation's primate city and its economic, indus ...

for instance — but Skuon, a market town on the highway from the capital, is the centre of their popularity. The spiders are bred in holes in the ground in villages north of Skuon, or foraged for in nearby forestland, and fried in oil. It is not clear how this practice started, but some have suggested that the population might have started eating spiders out of desperation during the years of

Khmer Rouge The Khmer Rouge (; ; km, ខ្មែរក្រហម, ; ) is the name that was popularly given to members of the Communist Party of Kampuchea (CPK) and by extension to the regime through which the CPK ruled Cambodia between 1975 and 1979 ...

rule, when food was in short supply. The spiders are a species of

tarantula Tarantulas comprise a group of large and often hairy spiders of the family Theraphosidae. , 1,040 species have been identified, with 156 genera. The term "tarantula" is usually used to describe members of the family Theraphosidae, although m ...

called "a-ping" in Khmer, and are about the size of a human palm. The snacks cost about 300

riel Riel may refer to: Places *Riel, Netherlands, a town in the Netherlands * Riel (electoral district), a provincial electoral district in Manitoba, Canada, named after Louis Riel * Riel, Winnipeg, a community committee comprising three city wards Pe ...

each in 2002, or about US$ 0.08. One travel book identifies them as '' Haplopelma albostriatum'', known colloquially as the Thailand zebra leg tarantula, and notes that the same species' common name has been the "edible spider" for more than a hundred years. The popularity of the dish is, however, a recent phenomenon, starting perhaps as late as the 1990s. The same book details a recipe: the spiders are tossed in a mixture of MSG, sugar, and salt; crushed

garlic Garlic (''Allium sativum'') is a species of bulbous flowering plant in the genus '' Allium''. Its close relatives include the onion, shallot, leek, chive, Welsh onion and Chinese onion. It is native to South Asia, Central Asia and northeas ...

is fried in oil until fragrant, then the spiders are added and fried alongside the garlic until "the legs are almost completely stiff, by which time the contents of the abdomen are not so runny." The taste has been described as bland, "rather like a cross between

chicken The chicken (''Gallus gallus domesticus'') is a domesticated junglefowl species, with attributes of wild species such as the grey and the Ceylon junglefowl that are originally from Southeastern Asia. Rooster or cock is a term for an adu ...

and cod", with a contrast in texture from a crispy exterior to a soft centre. The legs contain little flesh, while the head and body have "a delicate white meat inside". The abdomen is often not consumed however, as it contains a brown paste consisting of organs, possibly eggs, and excrement. Some people call it a delicacy while others recommend not eating it. In

Mexico Mexico (Spanish language, Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a List of sovereign states, country in the southern portion of North America. It is borders of Mexico, bordered to the north by the United States; to the so ...

, tarantulas have been offered in tacos, with a serving of

guacamole Guacamole (; (informally shortened to ''guac'' in the United States since the 1980s) is an avocado-based dip, spread, or salad first developed in Mexico. In addition to its use in modern Mexican cuisine, it has become part of international cuisi ...

. However, Mexican law forbids the sale of many species of tarantula for human consumption, and vendors offering this delicacy have been shut down by the authorities.

Notes and references

External links

* Cambodian cuisine Mexican cuisine Spiders and humans Spiders as food Fried foods {{food-stub