Pupa anyone?

For the past few weeks we have noticed street vendors selling brownish things that look like a fat little worm squished flat. When I asked my grade 6 students what they were, the only boy in the class happily told me they were pupae...and then waited for my reaction. I was not surprised. Afterall, we have seen many crazy things here, so this was fairly low on the crazy list. After class I did my own research and discovered that Koreans eat silkworm pupae. They must have silkworm farms because there are millions of pupae being sold on the streets here in Daegu.

In case you are a bit fuzzy on your silkworm stages of development, I will quickly fill you in. Silkworms go through four stages- embryo, larva, pupa, imago. It starts as a little egg, turns into a silkworm, then becomes a pupa (which is when it uses it's body like a sleeping bag) and then a moth comes out. The silkworm pupa (sometimes called a chrysalis) is protected by a silk cocoon. Koreans gather the cocoons, unravel the silk, take out the pupa, boil it and eat it. You can even buy it in cans.

Last night we were at a bar that served the pupa like bars in Canada serve peanuts. They smell very bad, have squishy white liquid inside (the creamy guts of the wormy larva), and can sometimes pop in your mouth. I didn't eat one but Brett did. As with everything strange here, the Koreans assure us it is very nutritious and good for our health. I think I'll just take a vitamin, thank you.