It’s ant egg season. The markets in Laos, north and northeastern Thailand have an abundance of them at the moment. A good source of protein, they are used in soups, curries and salads. The shots here were taken at stalls in the rural town of Pak Lay in Laos where ladies had their harvest of eggs laid out of pages ripped from on school books instead of banana leaves.

There were two types for sale, the more common plump red ant eggs known as kai mot daeng (top picture), and the smaller darker coloured kai mot hai (above). Both type of ant build their nests in trees. I really like the larger red ant eggs added Lao style soups. More on this dish in the near future.