Scorpions and stink bugs are naturally two insects most people don’t want to encounter in their everyday lives — one of them stings and the other, well, stinks. Fortunately, these defense mechanisms don’t carry on to the bugs’ culinary afterlife. In China, you can buy fried scorpions on a stick, while stink bugs are considered a nutritious delicacy across southern and Central Africa. However, these bugs are still intimidating to those with preconceived notions about the flavor or danger, and the Mashed Bros were understandably a tad skeptical.
Their scorpion-eating experience luckily turned out to be, in their words, “uneventful.” Though eating a venomous bug was still a little scary: “It did feel like you were breaking the rules of life, you know?” Scott explained. Similarly, Brian called the experience “A little terrifying. The pointer in particular.”
As for the stink bug, the flavor was nowhere close to its infamously off-putting smell, which stink bugs release to ward off predators. Seeing as it was a bit late for protection, Brian and Scott confirmed that the smell didn’t exist post-roasting. Scott explained, “I was expecting rotten cilantro … but they were much more similar to some of the other bugs we tried than I thought they were gonna be.”