In the eyes of many people, Yunnan is a beautiful and mysterious province In Yunnan, in addition to the peerless beauty, there are countless local specialties.
Among thousands of Yunnan cuisines, the most memorable one should be the variety of insect cuisines here. Grasshoppers, locusts, pupae, grasshoppers and other seemingly terrible insects are actually delicious on the table of Yunnan people!
So why do Yunnan people love insects so much?
Judging from the types of cuisines, these insect cuisines in Yunnan belong to the Dai cuisine, and the Dai people learned to eat insects from the Sino-Thai border. In Southeast Asian countries, many areas have a tradition of eating insects, and some places have an "insect festival" dedicated to eating insects.
In fact, not only Southeast Asia, but also people all over the world love to eat insects. In China, if you grew up in the countryside, you may have eaten bamboo worms, bee pupae, cicadas, cicadas and other insects.
In ancient times when animal husbandry was underdeveloped, insects were often eaten to survive because they were rich in animal protein needed by human body.
Before human beings tamed domestic animals, if they wanted to get animal protein, they could only get it through hunting, but hunting often depended on luck, sometimes at the cost of blood, but insects were relatively easy to get it.
I believe, according to statistics, 75% of the insects in the world were eaten by humans in the larval stage! However, with the development of agriculture and domestication of livestock, animal protein has become easier to obtain, and insects have gradually faded out of most people's dining tables.
However, these "extinct" foods can still be tasted in many places in Yunnan. I wonder if you have the courage to challenge these unique cuisines when you come to Yunnan?