Can you eat fire ants?
In this article, we will answer the question “Can you eat fire ants?”, and what other insects are edible?
Can you eat fire ants?
Yes, you can eat fire ants but only after killing them and cooking them to neutralize their venom. Fire ants, due to the presence of venom, are a risky food. Fire ants and other ant species are common food for survivalists.
Why eat ants to survive?
What makes ants a popular survival food is their abundance. Ants are categorized into 12,000 different species. Besides Antarctica, ants are present on every continent. Moreover, ants do not require fancy tools or special tools for harvesting.
Nutrition facts
100g of ants provide 14 grams of protein and 5.7 milligrams of iron along with a decent amount of calcium, fiber, and fat.
Since the ants are super tiny, you need to collect loads of them to quench your appetite and fulfill your nutritional needs.
What do ants taste like?
Raw ants have a somewhat tangy and sour taste. This naturally citrusy taste is attributed to the formic acid accumulated in ants. You can roast or boil the ant to neutralize its acidic or vinegary taste.
Ant larvae are rich in fats and upon cooking, imparts a nutty taste. It is recommended to cook or boil your ants before you devour them. This reduces the safety risk of ants by removing bacteria and parasites.
Who should avoid eating ants?
If you are allergic to shellfish, shrimp, dust, or chocolate, you should stay away from ants even in a survival situation.
However, if it is a life or death situation and you have no other option, you can resort to eating ants but only after properly cooking them. Because the last thing you want in a survival situation is an allergic reaction.
Unpopular edible insects
Palm weevil larva
It is a rural staple in countries like Nigeria, Papua New Guinea, Malaysia. Raw palm weevil larva has a similar taste to coconut. In cooked form, it tastes much like avocado.
This insect can be safely eaten raw. But you can also roast it directly over hot coals or fry it in sago flour. Fried palm weevil larvae are wrapped in a sago leaf and served like a tamale.
Ant
Ant is commonly eaten in countries like Australia, Colombia, Thailand. Aborigines of Australia eat honeypot ants as sweet treats. Colombians like to eat toasted Hormigas culonas or ‘big-assed ants’.
People of Thailand like to eat sauteed red ants and their eggs as a part of their salad. Generally, ants have a sweet and sour taste.
Stink bug
The stink bug is part of Mexican and South African cuisine. Africans like to eat them as snacks after beheading, squeezing(to remove the contents of a green gland), boiling, and sun-drying them. Stink bugs taste somewhat like cinnamon and iodine.
Stink bugs are a rich source of Vitamin B and are the center of attention of a Jumil Festival near Taxco, in Mexico. In this festival, freshly harvested stink bugs are either eaten raw or ground with chiles as a fill for tacos.
Tarantula
Tarantulas are arachnids and are commonly eaten in Cambodia and Venezuela. Whole tarantulas fried in oil and different spices are very famous street food in Cambodia.
Fried tarantulas are a perfect combination of crunch (because of the legs) and chewy (because of the fatty abdomens of the spiders).
Piaroa people of the jungles of Venezuela roast the Goliath bird-eating tarantulas over direct flame. The taste of tarantulas resembles crabs with hints of nutty flavor.
Termite
Termites are commonly eaten in West Africa, Australia, parts of South America as snack food. They taste like carrots and may be fried in oil or roasted over hot coals.
Dragonfly
Indonesians like to eat boiled or fried dragonflies. These flies are caught using a palm stick coated in sticky tree sap as bait. Dragonflies taste somewhat similar to soft-shell crabs.
Grasshopper
It is a specialty of Mexicans who like to toss their roasted grasshoppers in chile and lime. Chapulines are easily available in the streets and markets of Oaxaca. Grasshoppers have a predominantly spicy and salty taste.
Water bug
Water bugs, steamed or fried in spicy sauce, is a common street food of Thailand, Bangkok. They are also sold in roasted or canned form.
Scorpion
Like tarantulas, scorpions are also arachnids and are a common street food of Vietnam, Thailand, China. Scorpions can be eaten alive on a skewer or fried in oil. Their taste is somewhat similar to soft-shell crab or shrimp in its shell.
Conclusion
In this article, we answered the question “Can you eat fire ants?”, and what other insects are edible?
