BANGKOK: The tasting menu at Chef Surasit Buttama’s restaurant at first glance contains many of the culinary elements you would expect at a fine dining establishment: scallops with Jerusalem artichokes, ravioli with turmeric saffron sauce and grilled seabass with blackened corn salsa.
But Chef Gong is sure they will be the next big thing. Aside from the fun he derives from experimenting and creating, driving his concept is a desire to tackle looming food supply issues. “For people who have never tried insects before, when we serve the dishes and say, ‘enjoy your dinner’, some of them would say ‘oh my god!’ Some of them scream or say they have goosebumps. But once they try the dishes, they would say they are delicious,” Surasit said.
These incubators are climate controlled and sterile. Hiding inside, the ingredients in a new phase of Thailand’s edible insect industry are multiplying. This is a farm but not how one might traditionally imagine it. Thatnat is the president of Smile Bull Marketing and producer of crispy baked insect brand, Hiso - a mischievous play on a commonly used Thai slang expression for “high society”. The idea is to elevate the notion of eating insects beyond traditional markets and into contemporary, marketable products that can be sold across the world.
Hiso snacks can be purchased in some convenience stores as well as major supermarket chains in Thailand. It is available overseas in Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam and Thatnat says talks have begun for the snacks to be exported to Singapore, Malaysia and Japan.