Recipes

Cicada-licious

Courtesy of Created by Jenna Jadin and the University of Maryland Cicadamaniacs © 2004 University of Maryland 2nd edition

Cicadas are a delicacy in the city of Shanghai, China, where this creative recipe originated.

Ingredients:

• Cicadas
• anises
• salt
• rice wine
• mashed garlic
• celery

Directions:


Boil the cicadas and anises in salted rice wine for five minutes, then remove the cicadas. 

Sauté the mashed garlic, adding water and rice wine to make a paste.

Deep-fry the cicadas, then skewer them with bamboo picks.
Arrange them on a plate with the turnip greens, celery, and garlic paste to look like the cicadas are climbing out of a mud pie onto green foliage.

Mealworm French Fries

Ingredients:

• 4 U.S. grade No. 1 fresh potatoes (Idaho potatoes)
• 2 dozen mealworms – boiled but not roasted
• 1 cup chopped scallions
• ½ teaspoon smoked salt

Directions:

Cut and slice potatoes into preferred style, i.e. shoestring, etc. Keep the skin on to enhance the homemade appearance and flavor. If you prefer to peel your potatoes, please keep in mind that fries made from peeled potatoes should be chilled after cutting in cold water for 10 minutes to 30 minutes before frying, to ensure maximum crispiness and to prevent them from sticking together while frying.
Deep fry potatoes, mealworms and scallions together for 3 minutes in proper temperature oil. The oil is the proper temperature when the fries don’t sink when dropped in and bubbles remain on top of the oil. Always use clean oil to fry potatoes.

Tips: A little known chef’s secret to prevent the potatoes from darkening is to add citrus acid or vinegar to the water solution. Also in order to avoid water spattering and to reduce fat absorption spin dry potatoes as much as possible before frying. In order to get really crispy and tasty fries, fry them twice.

Banana Worm Bread

• ½ cup shortening
• ¾ cup sugar
• 2 bananas, mashed
• 2 cups flour
• 1 teaspoon soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• ½ cup chopped nuts
• 2 eggs
• ¼ cup dry-roasted mealworms

Mix together all ingredients. Bake in greased loaf pan at 350 deg F for about one hour.

Mealworms can be purchased live, canned or freeze dried from any number of suppliers. Mealworms are relatively easy to keep till you use them in a recipe. Nutritional Information: One mealworm contains: 10.63% protein, 3.1% fiber, 420 ppm calcium, and 10.01% fat. Mealworms if live, should be placed in freezer for about an hour to put them to sleep and then boiled for one minute and then they are ready for inclusion in a recipe.

Caramel Glazed Cricket Crunch Coated Flan, 8 servings

Ingredients:

• ¾ cup white sugar (Turbinado raw cane organic sugar)
• 2 egg yolks
• 6 egg whites
• 1 ¾ cups water
• 1 (14 ounce) can low-fat sweetened condensed milk
• ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 pinch salt
• ½ cup crushed dry roasted crickets

Prep Time 15 Min
Cooking Time 1 Hr
Ready in 1 Hr 15 Min
Original recipe yield 1 - 9-inch round

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
In a heavy skillet over medium-low heat, cook and stir sugar until melted and light brown.
Carefully pour into a 9-inch round baking dish, tilting the dish to coat the bottom completely.
In a medium bowl, beat egg yolks and egg whites.
Stir in water, condensed milk, vanilla and salt until smooth.
Pour into prepared dish.
Line a roasting pan with a damp kitchen towel.
Place baking dish on towel, inside roasting pan, and place roasting pan on oven rack.
Fill roasting pan with boiling water to reach halfway up the sides of the baking dish.
Bake in preheated oven 1 hour, until center is just set (still a bit jiggly).
Remove dish and sprinkle crickets atop flan, allowing to gently tumble down sides.
Lace on wire rack to cool for one hour.
Then refrigerate several hours or overnight.
To unmold, run a knife around the edge of the pan and invert onto a rimmed serving platter.