Insects for sale at a food store in Bangkok, Thailand. (Source: Getty Images) |
From deep-fried crickets to fragrant grilled ant eggs, insects are becoming a staple ingredient in high-end restaurants in Thailand. This seemingly strange trend is bringing a new breeze to Thai cuisine .
Unique dishes on the table
Left: Palm grubs blanched in boiling water and fried twice at Akkee restaurant. Right: Insects featured in Akkee restaurant's dishes. (Source: Nikkei Asia) |
At Akkee, a high-end restaurant in Bangkok that has just been awarded a Michelin star, diners can enjoy a special menu: Along with red curry and stir-fried shrimp, there are about 20 insect dishes. Among them is the coconut worm, a larva that is boiled, fried twice, and served ceremoniously on a small plate. “Crunchy, hollow, and mildly sweet,” one diner commented.
Other dishes such as fried grasshoppers, salted crickets or grilled stink bugs are all elaborately prepared, becoming unique highlights for a dinner that seems like a survival challenge, but is actually a sophisticated culinary experience.
The man behind the curious menu is chef Sittikorn “Ou” Chantop, who has just been awarded the “Michelin Young Chef 2025” award. With his wood-fired cooking style, clay pots and hand-pounded mortars, Sittikorn not only recreates the flavors of the past but also brings insects, an ingredient associated with his native Isan region, into the world of fine dining.
From survival culture to sustainable culinary trends
A chef points to different insect dishes on a restaurant menu. (Source: Nikkei Asia) |
Isan, a northeastern region of Thailand, has long been associated with the habit of eating insects as an essential part of life. In harsh natural conditions, people here learn to take advantage of all available protein sources: crickets, cicadas, bee larvae, ant eggs...
It's not just a culture but a survival lesson, something today's chefs are trying to recreate with a modern lens.
Chef Sittikorn is not the only one, but big names in Thai cuisine such as Chalee Kader, Weerawat Triyasenawat and Phanuphon Bulsuwan are also putting insects on the menus of restaurants such as Soma, Wana Yook, Blackitch and Samuay & Sons. Some make soy sauce from crickets, miso from worms, noodles from grasshoppers, and even chocolate covered in grasshoppers.
Chef and restaurant owner Akkee grills some insects. He adds only salt to bring out their flavor. (Source: Nikkei Asia) |
Their common goal is not only to impress, but also to reposition Thai cuisine.
According to expert Hanuman Aspler, founder of ThaiFoodmaster and a specialist in pre-World War II Thai cuisine, this is part of a trend towards sustainability and the search for superfoods of the future.
According to a 2023 study published in the scientific journal MDPI, insects contain an average of 35% to 60% protein when dry. Their carbon footprint is also lower than that of livestock, according to the World Economic Forum (WEF).
Journey to conquer taste buds
The chefs use only traditional cooking methods to create dishes with unique flavors. (Source: Nikkei Asia) |
Convincing diners to eat insects is no easy task. “You can’t get adults to eat cicadas if they’ve never tried them,” Chef Chalee says frankly. But instead of forcing them, he takes a gentler approach: Using insects as seasonings, sauces, powders, or processing them to make them taste familiar. Just like getting kids to eat vegetables, you just need to “disguise” them cleverly, and their taste buds will gradually get used to them.
Businesses are also joining in to spread the trend. From Udon Thani, JR Unique Foods exports cricket powder internationally; while Thailand Unique is experimenting with cricket noodles and grasshopper chocolate. The fact that insects are no longer just appearing in roadside stalls on Khao San Road, but are now being served in high-class spaces, is a strategic shift in Thai cuisine.
But it will take time and a change in mindset for insects to truly become a mainstay ingredient. “Just be a little more open-minded,” Chef Sittikorn advises. “It’s not as scary as you think.”
A dish made from crushed cricket meat at Akkee restaurant. (Source: Nikkei Asia) |
Thai cuisine is entering a new phase where traditional values are reborn through creative ideas. Insects, once considered oddities, are now symbols of innovation, sustainability and identity.
Not everyone is ready to chomp on fried worms, but like any new trend, the key is to dare to try. And who knows, the dish you are wary of today may become the “national specialty” of tomorrow.
Source: https://baoquocte.vn/con-trung-tu-mon-an-cho-que-den-ban-tiec-michelin-o-thai-lan-316175.html
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