GRUB eating in LAOS

Travelog date: 30th March, 2009

DonSao, Lao People Democratic Republic.

(Note: Meaning of grub according to Webster -

1.       (n.) A short, thick man; a dwarf.

2.       (n.) Victuals; food.

3.       (v. i.) To drudge; to do menial work.

4.    (n.) The larva of an insect, especially of a beetle; -- called also grubworm.

5.  (v. t.) To supply with food.

6.   (v. t.) To dig; to dig up by the roots; to root out by digging; -- followed by up; as, to grub up trees, rushes, or sedge.

7.  (v. i.) To dig in or under the ground, generally for an object that is difficult to reach or extricate; to be occupied in digging. )

 Rub a dub, dub! Thanks for the GRUB.

The woman greeted me with a smile and pushed her triangle-shaped straw hat up to show her reddish teeth. She tried to say something in Loa. When she realised I couldn’t make up what she was trying to say, she next tried her luck using Thai. But my Thai is as rusty with limited vocabulary equivalent to perhaps a toddler. I moved closer to her. And she tried to repeat her words slower while pointing to the pile of fruits she was selling.

I heard kluay, aroi mak and some other words which I could not understand. Then I saw what she was pointing at – bananas. Then next to it, a pile of earth covered balls that looked like dried fruits or mangosteen. I kinda understood what she was pointing at. She was trying to sell those fruits.

My eyes shifted to the children sitting by the wall behind her. Four of them. Three boys and a girl – clad in rag-like shirts, blacken by the dust and looked like they had not taken shower for days.

I wonder where do they sleep at night. I tried to persuade myself not to think too much about that as there were shelters and huts in the area. I am sure they could lay down anywhere at night. At the same time, they do not look malnourish so I presume they do have ample food to eat.

The eldest boy, perhaps about nine or ten, looked up briefly and quickly looked down and ran his gaze away as soon as our eyes met. Somehow he looked stoned. Is he high? Or is he just simply try to occupy his mind thinking about 'things'.

His younger brothers couldn’t stop giggling and showing their brownish row of teeth, when I smiled at them.

The girl who was perhaps seven or eight, just pressed both her palms and said words that I couldn’t understand – perhaps asking for me to bless her or praying for my well-being or simply asking for me to hand down some small cash.

Her eyes, eventhough they seem to be looking at me, were wondering into the space. She was basically staring at the nothingness behind me.

My attention returned to the fruits on the plastic mat spread infront of me. I had no intention of buying the bananas. But then there was something about the pile of round fruits. My curiosity reached its peak as my Thai friends said something to the lady and they sounded amazed with what was being said.

Then a friend gave some coins to the lady and she picked one of the balls and asked her son to open the ‘fruit’.

The fruit exchanged hands and the boy cracked it with his fingers and peel the skin creating a hole and dig up further to create a bigger opening.

Slowly, a yellowish grub become visible.

It's a larvae.

Noticing that its cocoon has been cracked open, it wriggled its fragile body as if awaken from a long slumber.

The boy’s nimble fingers picked up the larvae and holding it in his palm.

Its a dung beetle pupae.

This grub is a delicacy in Laos.

It is a much sought after item by the locals.

The lady told us that usually they would make a soup, and once its boiling, they will drop the larvae and let it shimmer before consuming it like fish balls. (Imagine how it will 'pop' in the mouth hehehe)

The old (mature) ones can be fried until crunchy and they will take out the hard parts and eat the rest, (presumably crunchy like peanuts)

I later found out that some people would fight for the pile of dung just to get their hands on the beetle cocoons.

It was like a common, unwritten rule there, that when the buffalo wonder around while grazing, and if they happen to leave their droppings, it is the landowner who can claim the dung – not the buffalo owner. Afterall, the landowner was kind enough to allow the buffalo to eat in his property, so I guess it would only be fair for him to claim the 'end product'.
Now and then they end up in a fight, especially when the buffalo decided to do his big job and leave his 'end product' in no-man's land or roadside. It will be difficult to claim that the dung belongs to one's cow, not the others'. Imagine how it would be like, fighting over a pile of dung. No S*H+# !!!

They will let the dung dry for a few days to allow the beetle to lay the eggs and wrap the egg with cocoon. Then the beetle will carry the ball (cocoon) to a safe ground and bury it, usually not far from the 'dropping' site. Once hatched, the larvae will start eating the ‘ball’ from inside out until there is no more to consume and the larvae will be mature enough to ‘see’ the world outside.

This grub eating, especially the buffalo horn beetle larvae is not only practiced in Laos but also in several other Asian countries, including Northern Thailand and South Africa.

It is interesting to know that the beetle has served various purposes throughout the ages and at various places in the world.

To the farmers, especially in the tropics, the beetle helps fertilize their land.

Their burying behaviours contributes to the ecosystem functioning and health by the removal of waste, control of dung breeding pests, soil fertilization and aeration, and the secondary burial of intact seeds found in animal droppings.

In some other places, the mature beetle is used as a pet or even a priceless property which could give the owner cash for winning a bet in a beetle battle game (what a mouthful).

But in the ancient Egypt, the beetle has been highly regarded as sacred.

Many would probably recognize the beetle for its appearance in the film “Mummy” and how the beetle.



gecko soaked in alchohol
sold along the roadside.
There were also all
kinds of snakes, lizards etc



For them, these dung beetle was a symbol of rebirth – with divine power where the rebirth of their God as the newborn, whitish pupa emerges from the mummy-like cocoon.

The images of this beetle was used as amulet decorating from headgear to belts and even seen decorating the palace and temple walls.

In addition to the grubs, there were also several other interesting 'offerings' lined up by the roadside. Row of bottles nicely arranged, containing yellowish liquid said to be alchohol and soaked inside were variety of local concoction with poisonous snakes, lizards, scorpions, roaches and centipedes. Mixed with herbs and other ingredients, the concoction is said to have medicinal values to cure all kind of ailments from simple cold to asthma to a more severe ailment like cancer. The vendor claimed that he even has cure for AIDS. But looking at the ice cold eyes of the dead king cobra in the bottle, confirmed that these are surely not for faint hearted.

So, grub tom yam anyone?

HERE'S an additional info
from National Geographic on dung beetle (African)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I1RHmSm36aE&NR=1&feature=fvwp


Ends