Cicadas are coming to invade ... your dinner.
With summer approaching, Brood X cicadas are beginning to emerge and along with it a creepy new food trend.
While many will probably cringe over cicada's loud mating sounds and avoid them at all costs, some restaurant owners are taking the opportunity to cook up the insects for a meal.
Yes, you read that right.
Chef Joseph Yoon educates foodies on his social media channel @brooklynbugs and prepares insect treats like cicada nymph salad, guacamole, and kimchi.
The New York Post reported that Yoon has cooked up dozens of dishes with the cicada nymphs and plans to make many more meals out of the Brood X bugs’ lifespan.
This is an extraordinary time for bug connoisseurs as cicadas emerge only every 17 years.
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So, you may be wondering if they are safe to eat?
“It is fine to eat cicadas,” Jess Fanzo, Ph.D., professor of global food policy and ethics at Johns Hopkins University told Today. “They are a high protein source of food, and have a reasonable amount of minerals like iron and zinc and some vitamins.”
“It’s best to eat the nymphs that are just emerging from the ground,” she said. “These are soft, and don’t have wings.”
Fanzo added that cicadas are a great way to gain protein and explained how eating insects is common in most parts of the world.
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If you’re looking to cook them at home, Fanzo said the best thing to do is gather the tiny nymphs and freeze them because that is the most humane way to kill them.
“When you are ready to cook them, boil them for two minutes to get any dirt off. Then you can roast, sauté or fry them up.” Fanzo said. She mentioned how best to put them in ramen noodles or on top of rice with veggies or in tacos.
Bug appétit!
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