A-Ping
អាពីង
The fried tarantulas of Skuon, Kampong Cham — garlic-salt seasoned, crisp outside and soft within, sold by the basket at the market crossroads.
By Cambodian Cookbook Kitchen · June 24, 2026
មេគង្គ Along the MekongRecovery era, 1979–1993
- Prep
- 20 min
- Cook
- 15 min
- Serves
- 4
- Level
- Advanced
Skuon sits where the road from Phnom Penh forks toward Kampong Cham and Kratié, and for decades the buses have stopped there for one reason: a-ping, the fried tarantula, hawked by women who walk the aisles with stacked trays. The spiders were eaten in this district long before the 1970s — forest protein in a place that knew the forest — but it was the famine of the Khmer Rouge years, when almost nothing else could be found, that fixed them in the country's memory and turned a local food into a survival one. That history is why a-ping is spoken of the way it is: not a stunt, but a thing people ate to live, and kept eating because it is genuinely good. The recovery years brought the buses back, and the trade with them.
Cleaned spiders are tossed in crushed garlic, salt, and a little sugar, then fried in hot oil until the legs go crisp and dark and the body firms — a couple of minutes, turned once. The texture is the honest report: legs like a crab shell's thinnest edge, a body that is soft and faintly liver-rich toward the center, which is the part the timid skip and the locals save for last. Squeeze lime over the top and eat them with a salt-pepper-lime dip, leg by leg, the way you would work through a plate of crayfish. Approach it plainly. It is food, it is old, and at the Skuon crossroads it is ordinary.
Fry hot and fast in two batches so the oil never drops. Crowd the pan and the legs go leathery instead of shattering-crisp.
ពាក្យពីចុងភៅ · A word from the kitchen
Ingredientsគ្រឿងផ្សំ
Serves 4
០ of ៨ gathered
The a-ping
To serve
Methodវិធីធ្វើ
Step 1: Season the spiders
Toss the cleaned tarantulas with the crushed garlic, salt, sugar, and stock powder if using. Work the seasoning between the legs so it clings once the surface dries a little.
Step 2: Heat the oil hot
Bring the oil up to a brisk frying heat in a wok before anything goes in. A pan that is too cool leaves the legs leathery instead of crisp, so let it shimmer first.
Step 3: Fry in two batches
Fry the spiders in two batches so the oil never drops, a couple of minutes each, turning once. Crowd the pan and they steam rather than crisp — patience here is the whole technique.
Step 4: Drain and finish
Lift them out when the legs go crisp and dark and the body firms, and drain on a rack or paper. Squeeze lime over the top and set out the salt-pepper-lime dip for eating leg by leg.
ឧបករណ៍ · The tools
Equipment
Granite mortar & pestle
ត្បាល់THE Cambodian tool. Kroeung is pounded, never blended — the stone bruises fibre and oil out of lemongrass and galangal in a way a blade only chops. Buy the heaviest one you can lift.
Shop on Amazon →Spider strainer
ចម្រងLift blanched noodles, fried shallots, and spring rolls clean out of hot water or oil in one scoop, before they overcook or turn soft.
Shop on Amazon →Carbon-steel wok
ខ្ទះFor char kroeung, loc lac, and every fast fry — a well-seasoned wok gets screaming hot and moves food fast, the whole point of a stir-fry. Flat-bottomed for a home stove.
Shop on Amazon →Tiered steamer
សម្ភារៈចំហុយStacked tiers for amok cups, steamed cakes, and fish — gentle, even heat that sets custards without breaking them. A wide pot with a rack stands in.
Shop on Amazon →Charcoal grill
ចង្ក្រានអាំងCambodian grilling is charcoal grilling — sach ko ang, grilled fish, skewers. The smoke is half the flavour, and a small clay or steel grill is all you need.
Shop on Amazon →
Equipment links are Amazon affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases, at no cost to you. Disclosure.
Questions from the kitchen
Are these safe to eat, and where do they come from?
Yes — they are a farmed and foraged food long eaten around Skuon in Kampong Cham, sold cleaned at the market. Buy them prepared rather than handling live spiders yourself, and fry them fully through until crisp.
What does a-ping actually taste like?
The legs are crisp and shatter like the thinnest edge of a crab shell, while the body is soft and faintly liver-rich toward the center. Approach it plainly: it eats a lot like working through a plate of crayfish.
បន្ទាប់ · Cook next
