A little out of Phnom Penh on the way to Siem Reap is the small rest-stop city of Skuon. There is a particular snack that Skuon is famous for, deep fried tarantula, which gives the city its nickname of Spiderville. Piled up on a plate between some kind of fried beetle and what I think is quail, was deep fried tarantula. Naturally, I purchased one and stored it in my backpack to try when I got back to the hotel. Sonya was not impressed.
It did take a lot of courage to eat it, even though it was clearly dead, my body seemed to naturally resist eating it. The legs and body was quite crunchy, the flavour masked by the chilli spice-mix. The abdomen was slightly soft and more difficult to swallow, not helped by the idea of eating the spider’s insides.
