My evening wander in the garden did not go as planned. 37 red ant bites in the 2 mins I paused to pick some leaves from our straggly kaffir lime tree. Damn. Ant nesting season. Again When the ground is soaked at the end of the rainy season and they move up into the trees - them and their 347 million relatives.
You feel the ant bites all over your feet in the lush long grass, which then makes you look UP for the nest. And voila! I found 3 nests within 5 feet of where I was standing, in the first minute. They look like this:
They feel like fire ants and are often called that (with good reason) but technically they are called Weaver Ants. In Thai, simply "Mot Daeng". Red Ant.
If you can handle the any bites long enough to photograph (haha!) they are FASCINATING constructions:
The ants haul the leaves up collectively and glue them into ball shaped structures with something similar to the sticky web of a spider. And then inside, they lay gerzillions of eggs. And these balls are heaving, heavy, a little dangerous if one smacks you in the face and..... haha.... a Thai culinary delicacy.
Thai people have an innate wisdom. Whatever critter they are overrun with, they eat. Frogs, snakes, bugs, ants.... rather than poisoning them, they BBQ it, turn it into a spicy soup or curry, or groove it up with herbs, lime and chili for a local style Thai "yum" - a salad.
Personally, the work of preparing them, not to mention the ant bite factor, is a major deterrent. How do you collect and prepare? You cut the nest down, swatting furiously at the ants crawling up your person, and drop the nest into a bucket of water. Most of the ants run away, a few drown and the pupae are left behind with the eggs.
After most of the live ones have run away and the eggs-pupae have been rinsed, you are left with this:
Currently for sale at fresh markets around Northern Thailand. Are they cheap? No. A bag ready for eating might set you back 100 - 200 baht (USD $3-6) with the price clearly reflecting the danger factor and the fiddly preparation.
What do you do with them? They are either dropped into a clear soup with a few local leaves, veggies and rainy season mushrooms, or, more likely, simply made into a "yum". A spicy Thai salad.
This is a great recipe, if you want to try: http://learnthaiwithmod.com/2014/02/exotic-thai-food-spicy-raw-ant-eggs-salad/
No red ants hanging in extended-family-ant-love-fests in your garden? Don't let that stop you! :) Head on down to your Asian grocer and be amazed. Yes, you can buy red ant eggs in CANS.
Do they taste good? Well, not huge on my list of top 10 Thai foods, but palatable if you put enough chili and red onion and lime on it. They're savory-sour and a bit crunchy. They are a SUPERB source of protein and nutrition and one of the species being studied by the World Health Organisation, looking for sustainable protein sources to combat world hunger. I possibly have enough ants in my garden to feed a small African nation. :)
Will I be harvesting and eating these nests? No. I will pass. But tomorrow, no doubt Lung Jai, the Thai uncle next door who helps with snakes, slashing and general "critter" management, will no doubt be over in a flash with his bucket of water when we invite him.
"Garden Surprise" is always that - a surprise. Blissednblessed to be surrounded by such amazing abundance that will no doubt make the Thai uncle super happy tomorrow.
What's next on my agenda for the evening?
Haha. For every challenge, we are provided with the solution. Life is Good.
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