Cicada Cookery

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Janet H

Janet H

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Years ago, when I was young, living in Philly and basically a beginner when it came to cooking knowledge. I went to China town and loaded up on a bunch of things I'de never tried before, including this mixed herb tea. Most the stuff was printed in Chinese, so I chose only things that I assumed would be vegetarian. I opened the bag of mixed herbs to make my self some tea, and out came a bunch of seeds leaves and what looked like to be a cicada cocoon shell, exoskeleton or whatever the piece the leave behind stuck to he tree is called. Anyway, I was kinda grossed out, and I looked at the bag to see if it was torn or had a hole in it that allowed an insect to get in there. As I was looking at the bag, I noticed there was an illustration of the cicada on the bag itself. Im guessing it was some kind of herbal medicine or something. Anyway, I ditched it. That's my only " almost" eating a cicada experience .
 
I am glad I tried it. If Frank would emerge from his first-world mindset, I would totally make cicada tacos. It tasted like a lightly cooked shrimp with an undertone of almond. Not at all squishy. I am ver sensitive over textures. Cicadas could easily be substituted for shrimp. I've been calling them "sky shrimp." I cooked and ate a cicada and I liked it."

After parboiling the teneral adults, remove the wings and legs, and stir-fry like you would shrimp.
 
Kathleen said:
I am glad I tried it. If Frank would emerge from his first-world mindset, I would totally make cicada tacos. It tasted like a lightly cooked shrimp with an undertone of almond. Not at all squishy. I am ver sensitive over textures. Cicadas could easily be substituted for shrimp. I've been calling them "sky shrimp." I cooked and ate a cicada and I liked it."

After parboiling the teneral adults, remove the wings and legs, and stir-fry like you would shrimp.
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Auuuuugh! No, nope. Can't do it and I've eaten some odd stuff.
 
LOL, if you have ever ridden a bicycle, you have eaten/swallowed bugs:LOL:

but I am not sure I would intentionally eat cicadas or bugs. So far, I have never been that hungry.
 
Bah! I'm adding this to my Zombie Apocalypse Skill Set. Be ready to trade something awesome for a helping of my delicious cicadas when the proverbial organic substance hits the rotating blade and makes 2020 look like a vacation. ;)
 
I will, and have consumed a myriad of foodstuffs but, unless in immediate danger of starving to death, I draw the line at insects, reptiles, and rodents.
 
Sir_Loin_of_Beef said:
I will, and have consumed a myriad of foodstuffs but, unless in immediate danger of starving to death, I draw the line at insects, reptiles, and rodents.
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While I might be skeptical of eating rats, even the ones not from cities, I will happily eat rabbit and hare and those are rodents. Some of the best tasting meat I ever had was porcupine and that's also a rodent, as is beaver, which I hear is delicious.

Reptiles, I would think twice, especially if it was a carnivorous reptile, like say, alligators, which some people think tastes good. Insects, not my first choice, but in the right sort of circumstances, I would try it. Other weird food that I would try include seal and whale, but only if offered by people who regularly eat those and they aren't species that are endangered.

If in imminent danger of starvation, I would be willing to eat lots of things I normally wouldn't touch, even Nutella or raw cilantro.
 
taxlady said:
If in imminent danger of starvation, I would be willing to eat lots of things I normally wouldn't touch, even Nutella or raw cilantro.
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:LOL::ROFLMAO:

taxlady said:
I probably wouldn't go to the effort of cooking them, but if someone offered me some, I would try them, especially minus the legs and wings.
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I removed the wings and legs. Just like snipping the wing tips off the chicken or removing the actual feet - but I used those in stock. The chicken parts. Not the cicada parts. :chef:
 
Kathleen said:
:LOL::ROFLMAO:



I removed the wings and legs. Just like snipping the wing tips off the chicken or removing the actual feet - but I used those in stock. The chicken parts. Not the cicada parts. :chef:
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Yes, I noticed that you mentioned that you removed the wings and legs. I don't want insect legs stuck between my teeth again. It was quite unpleasant. Now, I'm visualizing a stock made of cicada wings and legs. That would take an awful lot of cicadas. :ROFLMAO: That would be even stranger than the voodoo chicken feet. That was you, wasn't it? Or am I remembering wrong?
 
Heard tonight that there is a fungus among the cicadas this year. It makes thier butts pop off and then the fungus takes its place. Then it makes the males act like females to infect the males.

I'll pass on eating them.
 
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