Natural world

Red ant stir fry

Ingredients

1 tablespoon oil
300g female giant red ants
1 onion, chopped

Preparation

Heat the oil in a pan, then stir-fry the ants and the onion together until the onion is well browned. As the ants are cooked they become dry and crisp, due to their high fat content. They taste like bacon. Serve with a spiced vegetable such as potatoes or rice with chilli powder. .

Notes

Red ants come from Thailand. Once a year the female ants fly out of their holes to breed. At this time whole families sit by the holes to catch them. The worker ants bite, so it is easier to buy them at a market than to catch them yourself.

Warning !

All the recipes given here are based on traditional dishes eaten by people over many generations. There are small risks when eating insects, so it is recommended that:

• Nobody with an allergy to shellfish, chocolate or dust should try these recipes.
• All insects should be prepared exactly as described and thoroughly cooked before being eaten.
• Only the insects mentioned in the recipes should be used, as some other species are not edible. Please take care not to eat or even touch a hairy caterpillar in Britain.

All Illustrations by Steve Roberts