Ant Egg Salad (Koy Khai Mod Deng) for dinner in Vientiane, Laos. These eggs are from red ants and can be found around Laos during this time of the year. At the moment it is the start of the ant egg season. We spent a great deal of time looking for ant eggs in Vientiane and was able to find some before the supply was all sold out.
I’m not a big fan of ant eggs but my relatives from Pakse that are living in Vientiane are fond of using them in soup, omelet, or in salad. It’s more than 100,000 Kips per kilo, which is quite expensive for the average working people comparing to buying fish, chicken, pork, or beef per kilo. I bought 60,000 Kips worth of Ant Eggs as a treat for my aunt and she made Ant Egg Salad for dinner, served with selected vegetables and freshly steamed sticky rice.
When I asked my relatives to describe the taste of Ant Egg Salad to me (ກອ້ຍໄຂ່ມົດແດງ, ໄຂ່ມົດສົ້ມ) , one of my cousin told me that it’s like Caviar for them and a Hi-So dish.
I love khai mod dang, although it’s really difficult to find in Australia. This dish and the photos look amazing! 🙂