To gather the red ants, they use a stick tied to a basket and push it into the trees. The ant eggs are served with a fried egg. I assume that when the egg is done frying, the eggs are added to the pan with any other ingredients, spices and other flavorings then cooked for 5-10 minutes. I didn't see exactly how my homestay mother prepared it, though. Sometimes the ant eggs are served raw in a spicy salad.
Yes, because the ants were gathered from a local forest. While we were eating, my homestay mother's friend told us if the sugarcane factory that people want to build in their community gets built then they won't be able to eat this dish anymore. This is because they won't be able to go into the forest and gather the red ants from the trees. The bright green shirts we're wearing in one photo are for a protest group called "Love my Hometown" which is trying to stop the sugarcane factory from being built.
