Recipes

Lapsang Suchong Chilled Cricket Pokies™,Served as appetizers for 4 – 6 people

Ingredients:

• 2 cucumbers
• 2 dozen crickets
• 2 Lapsang Suchong Tea bags or similar black/green tea
• Kosher salt
• Mango chutney (have a small jar on hand because you’ll need to use about ½ a teaspoon per cucumber slice)
• Pickled ginger – sliced thin
• Coconut shavings (pre-packaged)

Directions:
Prepare, boil and roast crickets. Salt to taste.
Wash, peel and slice cucumber into ½ inch thicknesses.
Lay out cucumber slices atop paper towels to absorb moisture on cookie tray.
Place slice of pickled ginger neatly atop each cucumber slice.
Place a small dollop of mango chutney atop the pickled ginger.
Place one or two crickets atop the mango chutney and add a bit more mango chutney to cover cricket(s).
Place in refrigerator for 15 minutes.
Remove each slice from cookie tray to serving tray.
Lightly sprinkle several coconut shavings on top of each slice, let some coconut fall on serving tray to add subtle visual tension and texture.
Serve chilled.

Cricket Pad Thai, Serves 6 – 8

• 8-10 oz dried rice stick noodles
• 6 tablespoons fish sauce
• 2 tablespoons soy sauce
• 6 tablespoons lime juice
• 4 tsp. organic sugar (Turbinado, etc)
• 4 tablespoons peanut oil
• 1 cup crickets (prepared properly)
• 3-4 cloves garlic
• 3 eggs – lightly beaten
• ½ cup scallions, finely chopped
• 2 cups bean sprouts
• ¼ cup crushed peanuts
• ½ cup fresh cilantro
• 1 lime (cut into wedges to serve to each person)

Directions:

Combine the fish sauce, soy sauce, lime juice and organic sugar in a bowl and blend well.
Pour oil into a wok or skillet, and cook the crickets over medium-high heat.
Push crickets to one side and scramble the eggs on the other side of the wok or skillet. Remove crickets and eggs and set aside in bowl or on plate.
Add garlic and scallions and fry until soft.
Add sauce mixture, crickets and eggs back into the wok or skillet, and warm thoroughly.
Cook rice noodles for about 10 minutes in boiling water.
Remove and drain noodles, and add to wok or skillet.
Add in bean sprouts and toss thoroughly, being careful not to break the noodles. Top with peanuts, cilantro, and garnish with a lime wedge.
This dish goes great with Vietnamese spring rolls.

Hoppin’ Good™ Cricket Fried Rice,Serves 4 – 6

• 4 cups cold cooked brown rice
• 1 ½ cups of roasted crickets (about 3 – 4 dozen)
• 1 cup chopped scallions
• ½ cup cooked corn kernels
• 2 large eggs
• 1 teaspoon Kosher salt
• Powdered ginger to taste
• Powdered coriander to taste
• Garlic powder to taste
• 1 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper, or to taste
• 4 tablespoons oil for stir-frying, or as needed
• 1 ½ tablespoons light soy sauce or oyster sauce, as desired

Wash and finely chop scallions. Lightly beat the eggs with salt, ginger, garlic powder, coriander and pepper.

Heat a wok or frying pan and add 2 tablespoons oil. When the oil is hot, add the eggs. Cook, stirring, until they are lightly scrambled but not too dry. Remove the eggs and wipe clean the wok or frying pan.

Add 2 tablespoons of oil. Add rice. Stir-fry for a few minutes, using wooden spoon to break it apart. Add crickets. Add scallions. Stir in soy sauce or oyster sauce as desired. Continue stirring for a few more minutes.

When the rice is heated through, add the scrambled egg back into the pan. Mix thoroughly. Stir in corn kernels. Serve hot. This dish goes great with any other dish or appetizer, i.e., cooked greens, egg rolls, dumplings, etc.

Dry Roasted Crickets, Served as a snack for any number of persons

• 25 – 50 live crickets – or however many you wish to cook/serve
• Salt, or any preferred seasoning that can be shaken or sprinkled onto crickets after roasting.

Preheat oven to 200 degrees. Arrange the crickets on a cookie sheet, making sure none of them overlap. Proceed to bake at low temperature for about 60 minutes or until the crickets are completely dry or dry enough for personal taste.

Open up oven at the 45-minute mark and test a cricket to see if it’s dry enough by crushing with a spoon against a hard surface or if you prefer, between your fingers. The crickets should crush somewhat easily. If not place them back inside oven until crisp.

Once roasted and cooled down, place a few crickets between your palms and carefully roll them breaking off legs and antennae in the process. This ensures clean and crisp crickets without legs or antennae getting in the way of.

Season them with salt, Kosher salt, sea salt, smoked salt or whatever sort of seasoning you wish. They are very good and healthy to eat as a roasted snack. Eat them on the spot or place them back into the freezer for future use.

• 4 cups of flour
• 1 cup of roasted crickets (¼ - ½ cup of crickets to every cup of flour works well.)

Break off the antennae and legs by gently rolling the cricket between your hands.

Once you collect enough crickets in a bowl proceed to crush either using a mortar and pestle or rolling pin on a hard surface. Gather the crushed crickets – they should look like small specks (usually of dark brown color) and blend them well into the flour of your choosing.

Once you’ve blended the crickets with the flour you’re set to use it in any way you wish.