Facts About Beondegi
Beondegi, literally "pupa", is a Korean street food made with silkworm pupae. It is usually sold from street vendors. The boiled or steamed snack food is served in paper cups with toothpick skewers.
Canned beondegi can also be found in grocery stores and convenience stores.
Silkmoth pupae are also eaten in a number of other cultures.
- In Assam, they are boiled for extracting silk and the boiled pupae are eaten directly with salt or fried with chili pepper or herbs as a snack or dish.
- In China, street vendors sell roasted silkmoth pupae.
- In Japan, silkworms are usually served as a tsukudani (佃煮), i.e. boiled in a sweet-sour sauce made with soy sauce and sugar.
- In Vietnam, this is known as con nhộng.
- In Thailand, silkworm pupae (ดักแด้ไหม), usually deep-fried, are often sold at open markets. They are also sold as packaged snacks.
- Silkworms have also been proposed for cultivation by astronauts as space food on long-term missions.