Jay goes on a food trip in Cambodia

MANILA, Philippines - The streets of Cambodia are littered with insects and other animals — on sticks!

Cambodians love these kinds of food. From fried water snakes to fried tarantulas, what seemed to be exotic to us is just staple food for them.

But eating them has its share of historical significance.

During the Khmer Rouge under Pol Pot in the ’70s, his policies and ways of governing made him the most hated in Cambodia. Houses were sacked and destroyed while people were massacred — all in the name of societal transformation.

The years of deprivation, disease and starvation made the people of Cambodia learn to subsist on what is available to them — insects and other small animals.

Through the years, the local residents have developed an acquired taste for them. A treat of gastronomical proportions can now be seen on streets, parks and markets in Cambodia. In fact, the district capital of Skuon is also called “Spiderville,” because of its local delicacy of fried spiders. Tourists and locals alike flock here to taste the fried arachnae. One vendor even demonstrated how to catch live spiders and how to cook them.

Watch Jay Taruc’s food adventure tonight on GMA’s I-Witness.