My readers are a funny bunch. After reading about my Korean dinner a few weeks ago, I received an e-mail from Stephen in Nagoya, Japan. He said that he had recently spent time with friends, “who run a farm in the mountainous wilds of Nagano Prefecture.” While shopping at a nearby supermarket he purchased a can of what I imagine must be a local delicacy — called hachi-no-ko — cooked wasp larvae. His description of the snack food? “They’re actually not bad at all. I’d be happy to send the can to you, if you like…”
My immediate thought was, “No.” It’s one thing to eat frogs legs or beef intestines or chicken gizzards, but there seems to be — at least in my mind — a very wide gap between that and wasp larvae. I did not know what wasp larvae look like, but in my mind I pictured maggots. Maggots are fly larvae. Wasps are like flies. Their larvae must be really, really similar. My second thought was, “Maybe.” Anyone who reads my blog knows that I am deathly afraid of bees and other stinging, flying insects. Perhaps, by eating the unborn, cooked offspring of a creature I fear, I might rise above it. Shock therapy often involves having a subject directly confront the cause of their discomfort. I think. Psych 101 was ten years ago.
Stephen sealed the deal by following up with the statement, “I also brought back some inago no tsukudani — sweet soy-stewed grasshoppers — I phoned the company that makes and sells the larvae and they were able to overnight me a couple cans of grasshoppers, so you’ll be getting those too. The package just went out.”
Yesterday morning a small box arrived in the mail for me from Japan. The contents: cans of wasp larvae and grasshoppers, a package of napkins/handwipes (a cruel joke?) and an advertisement for a Maid Cafe.
When I spied the canned grasshoppers my excitement faded. The realization set in that I was going to have to eat them. The cans remained on my desk in my room until my roommates returned from work last night. I was too afraid to eat them on my own. My OCD and fear for my physical wellbeing would not allow me to. Usually when it comes to trying new things I become riddled with anxiety, and fearful that it might cause me bodily harm. For example, if I cook chicken and think for a moment it might still be raw inside I have to ask someone else to taste it in order to cease my worrying. Similarly, if I was going to eat the grasshoppers, I didn’t want to do it alone. Stephen had done his best to translate the contents of the package for me (grasshoppers, sugar, soy sauce, good until 2015), but that wasn’t enough. I needed at least one more person to eat with me.
As luck would have it, four or five people in the house were interested in trying the grasshoppers. I opened the tin by peeling back the seal as one would a can of dog or cat food. The contents might have made me shudder upon first glance. Maybe my hope was that the grasshoppers would have been trimmed before stewed? No, that’s not true. I expected them to be in tact. I expected to see antennae, mandibles, wings and eyes through the soy.
Nate happened to be boiling cucumbers at the time. They were supposed to be a side dish for the chicken he was cooking for dinner. He had the sliced cucumber sitting on a plate, topped with salt and pepper. I had the bright idea to garnish the cucumber with grasshoppers, just to add a different texture to my first bite of insect.
The cucumber certainly helped distract me from the grasshopper. The texture was a good reminder of what I was eating, but the flavor was so soy/salt heavy that it pretty much tasted like a crunchy soy candy. After four or five bites, though, when the flavor subsided, it was hard not to think about all the little parts. Adam picked an antennae out of his teeth. I would take a half-dozen bites or so and then rinse with water. I didn’t want the little bits, the remnants, sticking around any longer than they should have. We went around a few times pulling grasshoppers out of the can and eating them “in the raw” as it were. Without the aid of cucumbers, soda, or anything else. Again, the taste was soy heavy, and the crunch of the insect’s was the toughest aspect of consuming it. I might have consumed five or ten last night. Adam, Nate, Jessie, Micki and Tom also partook. It was a good bonding experience.
You don’t have to worry about cleanliness or preparation, really. Grasshoppers are consumed by many cultures both when cooked and uncooked. I suppose because their diet consists entirely of grass and crops you don’t have to worry about consuming the contents of their digestive systems. According to Wikipedia raw grasshoppers might contain tapeworms, but I guess those are killed during the cooking process.
Right now the grasshoppers are sitting in my fridge. I wrote to Stephen last night asking how long they would keep once opened, because I couldn’t read any of the information on the can’s label. He responded by saying that when fresh they stay in the fridge for a month or so. I figure for the next month I’ll just ask anyone who comes over if they want to eat some grasshoppers with me. It’ll be like an initiation. I’ll tell them that it’s a good source of protein.
Tonight or tomorrow we’ll taste the wasp larvae. I think that one’s going to be much more of a mental struggle than the grasshoppers. I’m so fucking afraid of wasps. And the prospect of eating maggot-y looking stuff makes me nauseous. Wish me luck.
Part Chimp – Bubbles
