How to Cook Grasshoppers

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  • Last Post 03 September 2015
pondercat posted this 02 September 2015

http://www.wikihow.com/Cook-Grasshoppers>How to Cook Grasshoppers Two Parts: http://www.wikihow.com/Cook-Grasshoppers#Preparing_Your_Grasshoppers_sub>Preparing Your Grasshoppers http://www.wikihow.com/Cook-Grasshoppers#Cooking_Grasshoppers_sub>Cooking Grasshoppers   http://www.wikihow.com/Catch-a-Grasshopper>Grasshoppers are a crunchy, delicious treat enjoyed around the world in countries like Mexico and Uganda. Just one grasshopper contains 6 grams (0.21 oz) of protein and many people think the world should harvest more insects to help people in need of healthy, nourishing meals. As long as you cook your grasshoppers, whether boiling or frying them, they will be safe to eat and ready in minutes. If you want to know how to cook grasshoppers in a variety of ways, see Step 1 to get started. Ingredients Dry roasted grasshoppers: ·         1 cup grasshoppers ·         Olive oil ·         Salt and pepper to taste

Garlic butter fried grasshoppers: ·         1/4 cup butter ·         6 cloves garlic, crushed ·         1 cup grasshoppers

Grasshopper fritters: ·         3/4 cup sifted flour ·         1 tsp. baking powder ·         1 tsp. salt ·         3/4 c milk ·         1 egg, slightly beaten ·         1 cup grasshoppers ·         1 pt. heavy cream beaten stiff

Grasshopper skewers: ·         1/2 cup fresh lemon juice ·         1 tbsp. olive oil ·         1 tsp. honey ·         1/2 tsp. freshly grated ginger ·         1 tbsp. Dijon mustard ·         1 tbsp. minced parsley ·         1 tbsp. minced parsley ·         1/4 tsp. salt ·         1/4 tsp. pepper ·         12 frozen grasshoppers ·         1 diced red bell pepper ·         1 yellow onion, cut into 8 wedges

Sautéed grasshoppers: ·         1 cup grasshoppers ·         1/4 cup lemon juice ·         2 cloves of garlic, crushed ·         1/4 cup lime juice ·         1/2 cup vegetable oil ·         1 serrano chile ·         1/2 diced onion

    Take a shoot of green willow that's about three feet long and flick it down lightly on the grasshopper. This should pin it in place.

2.            Alternatively, buy your grasshoppers. Depending on where you live, it may be tricky to buy grasshoppers, but not impossible. Try Mexican markets first. Grasshoppers, known as chapulines in Mexico, are a popular dish in Oaxaca.

3.            Be sure to cook them. Grasshoppers are delicious and safe to eat, but you have to cook them first. This will keep you safe and will remove any parasites that they might be carrying. Don't attempt to eat them raw or you may suffer health issues.

4.            Remove the legs and wings. The legs of grasshoppers aren't edible; although you won't be hurt from eating them, it's best to remove them before you begin to cook them. The same goes for the wings. Some say that freezing the grasshoppers for 10-15 minutes or boiling them for a few minutes makes the legs easier to pop off. This also has the benefit of killing them.

·         Some people also pull the head straight off, which removes the guts (including the stomach). This tends to remove certain kinds of parasites (and could reduce the risk of eating the grasshopper raw, but it's still better to cook it). You can then insert a stick into the cavity and cook it over a fire.

5.            Clean your grasshoppers before you eat them. Make sure to run them under cold water until they are clean and free of dirt. You can pat them down with a paper towel and then freeze or boil them, depending on the recipe.

·         Make the marinade. To do this, mix together all of the ingredients except for the grasshoppers, the bell pepper, and the onion. Do this in a non-reactive baking dish.

·         Marinate the grasshoppers. Submerge them in the marinade and let them sit there for at least an hour. For best results, you can marinate them overnight.

·         Remove the grasshoppers from the marinade and pat them dry.

·         Make the skewers by placing the grasshoppers, bell pepper, and onion on them in an alternating pattern.

·         Brush your grill lightly with olive oil.

·         Cook each skewer 2”€œ3 inches (5.1”€œ7.6 cm) above the fire.

·         Turn them every 2-3 minutes and continue to baste them in olive oil if needed.

·         Cook for about 8-9 minutes, until crunchy and ready to eat

6.            Make sautéed grasshoppers.  This is another easy and delicious dish. Just take of the wings and legs, clean the grasshoppers, and get ready to sautee them. Here's what you do:

·         Marinate the grasshopper in a mixture of lemon and lime juice for at least an hour. ·         Sauté the garlic, serrano chile, and diced onion in a pan filled with oil over medium heat.

·         Remove the garlic, onion, and chile, and sauté the grasshoppers in the remaining juice for around 8-9 minutes, or until they are crunchy and brown.

·         Serve. Squeeze some lemon or lime juice over the grasshoppers and enjoy them on their own or in tortillas or tacos.

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mckg posted this 02 September 2015

No stuffin' recipe?

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highstandard40 posted this 02 September 2015

I, for one, have no intention of eating bugs. Not yet anyway. Nobody can say what the future will bring, but as long as I have the option to eat “traditional” foods, I will continue to do so. To each his own. Bon appetit!

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LWesthoff posted this 02 September 2015

We had a string going here a while back about cookin' and eatin' possum. I offered my position: I am not at all interested in eating some critter that will voluntarily eat dead, aged and rotten SKUNK!

I still think, if I were very hungry and was offered my choice of grasshoppers or possum - I'd take the hoppers!

However, as I said, even then I'd have to be pretty dang hungry!

Wes

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delmarskid1 posted this 03 September 2015

I've eaten crickets. Take the legs off. They stick in your throat. Raw they reminded me of oysters.

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pondercat posted this 03 September 2015

I watched a cooking show one time a number of years ago where a very promiant chef demonstrated several ways to prepare crickets from sautee to fried to candied.  Each tme he started by removing wings and legs.  Don't remember his name but he specialized in exotic dishes like that.  

I have eaten grasshoppers.  Years ago on the '70s my then wife and I experimented with a lot of different things like that.  We ate them cooked with butter and onions and  butter and deep fried though I can't recall the exact recipes.  I remember them as not being too bad but never pursued them as a regular part of our diet.  

Also ate garden snails, yeccchhhkkkk, some kind of big white grub, and cleaned out earthworms-- fed them conmeal I think it was to flush all the dirt out of them, prepared as a kind of pate' cooked with rice. Tolerable but nothing to write home about.  We went through that phase of our lives pretty quickly and got back to our normal civilized high fat, high carb, high cholesterol diet.   Terry

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