Crickets??

Wind Chaser · « **on:** 19 Jun 2008, 05:24 am »

Anyone ever try crickets? They are supposed to be very nutritious. What do they taste like and what are some of the ways to prepare them? Open mind but closed mouth for now. Just cricket curious.

giantsteps · « **Reply #1 on:** 19 Jun 2008, 05:30 am »

Yes! Those of you who have had this culinary experience please share. Many thanks.

Frank

lonewolfny42 · « **Reply #2 on:** 19 Jun 2008, 05:35 am »

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Buying insects is the easiest way to get edible insects, but it is also the most expensive (ain't it always the way?). Most pet stores and bait shops carry crickets and mealworms, two of the most easily raised and prepared insect species. You can also buy these insects in bulk from various insect suppliers. The only preparation that you need give to insects acquired in this manner is that of feeding them for a few days on fresh grain; most insects you buy at bait shops or pet stores have been eating newspaper, sawdust, or similarly unsavory packing material, which, while completely harmless, might affect the insect's taste if you ate them while the material was still in their digestive tract.

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To prepare a batch of crickets or mealworms:
Take the desired quantity of live insects, rinse them off and then pat them dry. This procedure is easy to do with mealworms, but fairly hard to do with crickets. To do so with crickets, pour them all into a colander and cover it quickly with a piece of wire screening or cheesecloth. Rinse them, then dry them by shaking the colander until all the water drains. Then put the crickets or mealworms in a plastic bag and put them in the freezer until they are dead but not frozen. Fifteen minutes or so should be sufficient. Then take them out and rinse them again. You don't really have to clean mealworms, though if you want, you can chop off their heads. Cricket's heads, hind legs, and wing cases can be removed according to personal preference; I like doing so, since cricket legs tend to get stuck in your teeth. You are now ready to use the insects in all kinds of culinary treats!

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Chocolate Covered Crickets

*

25 adult crickets
Several squares of semisweet chocolate

Prepare the crickets as described above. Bake at 250 degrees until crunchy (the time needed varies from oven to oven). Heat the squares of semi sweet chocolate in a double boiler until melted. Dip the dry roasted crickets in the melted chocolate one by one, and then set the chocolate covered crickets out to dry on a piece of wax paper. Enjoy! This is a little time consuming to make, but definitely worth it...the crickets are deliciously crunchy!

John....Take the taste test....

giantsteps · « **Reply #3 on:** 19 Jun 2008, 05:41 am »

Frank

lonewolfny42 · « **Reply #4 on:** 19 Jun 2008, 05:47 am »

http://www.nyworms.com/roastedcrickets.htm

http://www.nyworms.com/LiveCrickets.htm

giantsteps · « **Reply #5 on:** 19 Jun 2008, 05:52 am »

STOP!! I can't take it anymore! I'm takin' a break and see what I can collect outside.......... where's that net......

Frank

lonewolfny42 · « **Reply #6 on:** 19 Jun 2008, 05:59 am »

Fry'em Up......

giantsteps · « **Reply #7 on:** 19 Jun 2008, 06:03 am »

Huff..........puff ..............where's my flashlight......................

Frank

lonewolfny42 · « **Reply #8 on:** 19 Jun 2008, 06:07 am »

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l2-wzF1qzno&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r-7BDZFk12s&NR=1

goldlizsts · « **Reply #9 on:** 19 Jun 2008, 10:31 am »

Quote from: Wind Chaser on 19 Jun 2008, 05:24 am

Anyone ever try crickets? They are supposed to be very nutritious. What do they taste like and what are some of the ways to prepare them? Open mind but closed mouth for now. Just cricket curious.

To many, it probably is a bland delicacy. The edible "desirable" part first of all is small because much of the body is not generally consumer, for example, the stomach area. The other meaty part(s) is therefore very small. The head? Again, probably not too many eat the heat. In Asia, these critters are eaten, mainly because I think due to the scarcity factor for food. When it was discovered that there's (likely) no harm to the body, they have been eaten for ages.

The preferred way to eat it is first roast them (after perhaps cleaning!). The "eater" will have the option of discarding whatever parts he/she doesn't like (the stomach, legs, etc.). As far as I know, all kinds of critters like that are eaten in China. Land bugs, water bugs, you name it. Years ago, in Hong Kong, there are markets where you can buy them in quantity as these bugs are sold ready to eat, roasted, cooked, steamed...... with simple ingredients. I recently received an e-mail of these things in a Beijing market. Don't know if I still have it, with the pictures. It'd be interesting to post it.

spudco · « **Reply #10 on:** 19 Jun 2008, 11:40 am »

Here at the habitat, I would use the crickets to catch LARGE panfish, fillet them, batter the fillets and fry. Absolutely the best way to eat crickets.

MaxCast · « **Reply #11 on:** 19 Jun 2008, 02:03 pm »

I would think crickets would be an audio pet peeve.

Noisy little critters in the summer time. And how do they keep up all that racket with out wearing out their back legs.

Eating them makes me sick. Like the Indiana Jones #2 movie where they eat those big beatles, snakes and stuff barf!

Wind Chaser · « **Reply #12 on:** 19 Jun 2008, 02:27 pm »

Quote from: MaxCast on 19 Jun 2008, 02:03 pm

I would think crickets would be a an audio pet peeve.
Noisy little critters in the summer time.

But this pet peeve has a simple solution that includes a free meal or two. Beat that!

Bob in St. Louis · « **Reply #13 on:** 19 Jun 2008, 05:52 pm »

Quote from: lonewolfny42 on 19 Jun 2008, 05:35 am

Cricket's heads, hind legs, and wing cases can be removed according to personal preference; I like doing so, since cricket legs tend to get stuck in your teeth.

That's just information I really didn't need to know.

Bob

some young guy · « **Reply #14 on:** 19 Jun 2008, 06:26 pm »

Here's a shot that my buddy took at a market in Mexico.

Those look far more appetizing than these:

goldlizsts · « **Reply #15 on:** 19 Jun 2008, 06:29 pm »

Quote from: MaxCast on 19 Jun 2008, 02:03 pm

I would think crickets would be an audio pet peeve.
Noisy little critters in the summer time. And how do they keep up all that racket with out wearing out their back legs.

Eating them makes me sick. Like the Indiana Jones #2 movie where they eat those big beatles, snakes and stuff barf!

Ha

, life is too good here in the American valley, with so much beef running around. We're too spoiled. Food is pretty much a scarce commodity in a way in many other countries. Imagine 1.3 billion Chinese mouths without crickets and scorpions

to subsidize their food sources? LOL!

goldlizsts · « **Reply #16 on:** 26 Jun 2008, 02:28 am »

Just to follow up, I found what I wanted to post last time a picture of the delicacies available in a Beijing street market. It typically opens late afternoon into the evening. I'm sure it'll be a hit come Olympic time.

The uploaded picture came out too small, sorry. The picture shows scorpions, crickets, cicadas.....

lonewolfny42 · « **Reply #17 on:** 26 Jun 2008, 02:50 am »

Shek...
I did find a larger photo....

Beijing street fair...scorpion and centipede...on a stick...

From that bloggers site....they were also serving... goat penis and lamb balls...

mcgsxr · « **Reply #18 on:** 26 Jun 2008, 02:59 am »

I ate deep fried crickets in Taiwan, they were actually quite good!

some young guy · « **Reply #19 on:** 26 Jun 2008, 03:06 am »

Quote from: mcgsxr on 26 Jun 2008, 02:59 am

I ate deep fried crickets in Taiwan, they were actually quite good!

Have you ever had anything deep fried that wasn't good?