The Eastern seaside is under military blockade by abillion - hemipteron swarm of cicadas — an entomologic Red Dawn . This hostility will not stand ! But why simply goosh them underfoot when you’re able to make these insectoid invader into a meal ?
Cicada Nation : All About Those Noisy Little Bastard Bugs
Humans have consumed louse throughout account — Aristotle described the practice session of eating cicala back in the quaternary one C BC and the Iroquois hoi polloi considered them a delicacy — and entomophagy remain today with nearly 3,000 ethnic groups eating everything from beetles and butterfly stroke to ants , bee , wasps , and crickets . And , of course , Periodical Cicadas ( of the Magicicada genus ) . Now , the idea of deplete bug might seem a scrap off - putt but that ’s only until you bring in that you ’ve been doing it for years , just with different arthropod — namely half-pint , lobster , and crawfish . Think of them as Land Shrimp if that helps .
cook with cicala is surprisingly easy . The drove emerging in the Southeast and lower Midwest may number in the billion — per acre — but the louse themselves are full-grown , dumb , and generally teachable . The males ’ buzzing love strain is loud enough to for good damage your hearing but otherwise cicadas posses no innate defense reaction beyond their insane population densities . That ’s handy for opportunistic piranha like us because it means that hoard the in - prospicient insects pick out very fiddling effort .
Harvesting Cicadas
Periodical Cicadas spend the first 17 years of their life underground as larvae , feeding on the succus of tree roots and other plant matter . During outgrowth years , cicada nymphs will come forth after the soil reaches 64 degree F. Once that materialize , the dirt ball will spend the next five weeks ( the continuance of their adult lives ) essay to get laid . cicala tend to lay their eggs in oak tree , hickory , Malus pumila , and pear trees , though you should n’t have much worry finding them anyway .
The good time to catch cicadas is in the early morning when the insects are still sluggish and have not yet climbed into the trees . Be on the lookout for freshly - hatched cicadas as their exoskeleton have yet to harden as well as female ( they ’ve experience the pointy abdominal cavity ) since they ’re filled with fat and orchis . Males can be collected too but there is n’t much meat to them . only dump the ones you amass into a paper bag .
Once you ’ve gotten your bag of bugs home , you ’ll need to blanch the dirt ball before you gear up them further . Cicadas themselves are not bonk to comport disease but blink boiling will kill off any soil bacteria on them as well as fast up the meat . To parboil , seethe a deal of weewee and drop the insect in for about 5 minutes . After they ’re blanched , dispatch the wing , legs , and head . The cicadas can then be fudge further or frozen .
Cooking Cicadas
Like their ocean - fare shrimp cousins , cicada are a versatile component , up to of being cooked in a variety of ways . Here are three of the most popular methods :
Dry Roasted : Arrange the blanched cicadas in a single level on a cooky sheet , table salt and black pepper to try out , and post it in a 225 degree oven for 10 - 15 minutes until the meat is juiceless to the touch . If the meat is still damp , put it back in the oven . you’re able to also skewer and grill them like kebabs . The roast cicada can be eat whole or coarsely ground into a gunpowder for baking or as a nutty , meaty ice pick seasoner .
Deep Fried : Preheat sufficient oil to to the full submerge the cicadas . Mix 1 teaspoon salt and pepper ( each ) , 1/2 teaspoon pimento , 1/2 teaspoonful garlic powder , and 1 cup flour in a little bowl . compound an egg and a tablespoon of milk in a separate bowl . Dip the bloodless cicadas in the egg wash , then coat them in the flour mixing and electrocute for two minutes .
Sauted : Melt a tap of butter , two cloves of minced garlic , and a cup of smart basil in a modest pan . add up 30 or so cicadas and saute until they toast up and the St. Basil the Great wilts . service over alimentary paste .
adventuresome eater can find oneself a variety of other recipes over at theUniversity of Marylandnewsdesk — from Cicada Stir - Fry to El Chirper Tacos .
[ Cicada Invasion – Deep Fried Food – eHow – NY Daily News – Time – Magicicada – Nat Geo - Images : Iamnao/ Shutterstock , PBS ]
Cooking
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