# Favorite cicada recipes **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 20, 2024, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-cicada-recipes/1001823 "2024-05-20T19:21:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![DSeid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dseid/32/20194_2.png) [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2024, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-cicada-recipes/1001823/1 "2024-05-20T19:21:13Z")
I’m patiently waiting for emergence of nice tender nymphs to blanch and cook up. Last time I did a simple stir fry but anyone have any other favorite recipes to try? ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2024, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-cicada-recipes/1001823/2 "2024-05-20T20:06:37Z")
I hate getting wing parts stuck between my teeth. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2024, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-cicada-recipes/1001823/3 "2024-05-20T20:38:49Z")
So you pick up dead cicadas(yep, bugs!) and go cook em up. Ain’t that just road kill, kinda? I’ve never, ever, in my vast(it is Arkansas) knowledge of dead animals I’ve seen on roads, in ditches, laying around said “Yummy, dinner managed!” If you catch them live, how do you dispatch them? ---
**Author:** ![DSeid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dseid/32/20194_2.png) [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2024, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-cicada-recipes/1001823/4 "2024-05-20T21:27:46Z")
You catch them live as they are emerging at night. Wings and exoskeleton not well formed yet. Blanch briefly then can freeze in ziplock for cooking up. ---
**Author:** ![Aeschines](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aeschines/32/16251_2.png) [@Aeschines](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aeschines)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2024, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-cicada-recipes/1001823/5 "2024-05-20T21:28:21Z")
When they came out in the 1980s, our dogs at the time were just munching them like a snack on the hot driveway, lol. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2024, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-cicada-recipes/1001823/6 "2024-05-20T22:14:48Z")
Sounds legit. I can’t that I’ve ever eaten them. (Not likely I will) I’ve seen recipes on Food network of Fried rice with grasshopper. I think that might work. ---
**Author:** ![Retzbu\_Tox](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/retzbu_tox/32/11829_2.png) [@Retzbu\_Tox](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Retzbu_Tox)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2024, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-cicada-recipes/1001823/7 "2024-05-21T01:42:57Z")
Other cultures that include more insects in their diet would likely have some good recipes. (Thai and Oaxacan recipes would be places I would start.) Reddit suggests things like: - deep fry them for tacos Ala chapulines (crickets) - sauteed lightly in mojo de ajo, then served on a taco with salsa de pasilla de Oaxaca Ohio State University suggests: **Cicada Stir-Fry** (Courtesy of Cicada-Licious: Cooking and Enjoying Periodical Cicadas) **Ingredients:** - 1 onion, minced - 2 tablespoons fresh coriander (cilantro), chopped - 1 tablespoon fresh ginger, minced - 3/4 cup sliced carrots - 3/4 cup chopped cauliflower and/or broccoli - 1 can water chestnuts - 3/4 cup bean sprouts - 3/4 cup snow peas - 40 blanched newly hatched (teneral) cicadas **Directions:** - Capture cicadas at night as they emerge from the ground. - Blanche for 1 minute in boiling water. They can now be stored in freezer or used immediately in recipes. - In a wok or other suitable pan, heat a couple tablespoons of vegetable oil. Add ingredients in the order listed above when those in the most recent addition are partially cooked. - Serve over [whole-grain rice](https://health.osu.edu/wellness/exercise-and-nutrition/how-to-reduce-arsenic-in-rice) and add soy sauce to taste **Yield:** 4 main course servings Andrew Zimmern suggests: > **[Crispy Wok-Tossed Cicadas - Andrew Zimmern](https://andrewzimmern.com/recipes/crispy-wok-tossed-cicadas/)** > > Everyone’s favorite brood just popped out of the ground. Hordes of Brood II cicadas are emerging from their subterranean home this spring along the East Coast. Although many species of cicadas emerge each year in the United States, this brood of... Googling “cicada recipes” yields lots of sites and YouTube videos ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2024, 1:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-cicada-recipes/1001823/8 "2024-05-21T01:55:42Z")
> [@Retzbu\_Tox](#): > > Googling “cicada recipes” yields lots of sites and YouTube videos - I just learned I’ve been making grasshopper pie all wrong. ---
**Author:** ![smithsb](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smithsb/32/12107_2.png) [@smithsb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smithsb)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2024, 1:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-cicada-recipes/1001823/9 "2024-05-21T01:58:42Z")
Gathering them at night seems too much work for this old guy. I’ll wait for the family size 20 lb. pack at Costco. The samples will be _interesting._ ---
**Author:** ![DSeid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dseid/32/20194_2.png) [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2024, 2:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-cicada-recipes/1001823/10 "2024-05-21T02:17:12Z")
The stir fry is not too far off from I did last time. The kids (now adults) braved it with me but the youngest told mom on me and she was not pleased. It was … okay. I may look up the Oaxacan deep fry. I’d love some personal recommendations though! ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2024, 11:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-cicada-recipes/1001823/11 "2024-05-22T11:50:22Z")
David George Gordon’s **Eat-A-Bug Cookbook** contains recipes for many bugs. I’m sure you could adapt one of his cricket or grashopper recipes to use cicada, but he does include one cicada recipe – a Cicada-and-artichoke pizza he calls **Piz-zz-zz-zza** > [@](#): > > “Cicadas are full of vitamins, minerals and proteins,” he told me. “The best time to get one is just after it’s emerged from the ground but before it’s begun to grow a hard shell. Some people say they taste like soft-shell crab.” His book includes a recipe for a cicada-and-artichoke-topped pizza that’s called Piz-zz-zz-za. Sorry, but I don’t have my copy handy, or I’d quote the recipe. > **[The Author Of The 'Eat-A-Bug' Cookbook Explains How To Make Tarantulas Taste...](https://www.businessinsider.com/recipes-from-eat-a-bug-cookbook-2013-7)** > > The author of the new edition of the Eat-A-Bug Cookbook talks about why bugs are a great ingredient > **[Eat-a-bug Cookbook: 33 ways to cook grasshoppers, ants, water bugs, spiders,...](https://www.amazon.com/Eat-bug-Cookbook-grasshoppers-centipedes/dp/0898159776)** > > Buy Eat-a-bug Cookbook: 33 ways to cook grasshoppers, ants, water bugs, spiders, centipedes, and their kin on Amazon.com ✓ FREE SHIPPING on qualified orders ---
**Author:** ![Half\_Man\_Half\_Wit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/half_man_half_wit/32/21766_2.png) [@Half\_Man\_Half\_Wit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Half_Man_Half_Wit)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2024, 11:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-cicada-recipes/1001823/12 "2024-05-22T11:55:56Z")
Oh, you should totally try and get some individuals from both broods XIII and XIX for that once-in-221-years goodness! ---
**Author:** ![Jasmine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jasmine/32/2964_2.png) [@Jasmine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jasmine)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2024, 11:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-cicada-recipes/1001823/13 "2024-05-22T11:59:57Z")
> [@DSeid](#): > > I’m patiently waiting for emergence of nice tender nymphs to blanch and cook up. 🤢 Over and out of this thread. 😳 ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2024, 12:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-cicada-recipes/1001823/14 "2024-05-22T12:02:12Z")
This makes me think of that scene in the Chuck Jones cartoon **Rabbit Fire** (1950) where Bugs and Daffy read aloud recipes for rabbit and duck to entice Elmer to shoot the other guy. All you have to do is change “rabbit” or “duck” to “cicada” or “locust”: > [@](#): > > 13 year locust: _“Filet of Cicada Bordelaise Maitre d’Butter. Yum-yum… Cicada Polonaise Under Glass. Mmm-mm.”_ > 17 year Cicada: _“Locust au Gratin de Gelatin under tooled leather. Oh, drool-drool.”_ > 13: _“Barbecued Cicada Meat with Broiled Cicada Shell Milanese. Yummy-yum.”_ > 17: _“Chicken Fried Locust with Discarded Husk Sauce braised in high-pitched scream. Mm-mmm. “_ ---
**Author:** ![Crafter\_Man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crafter_man/32/458_2.png) [@Crafter\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crafter_Man)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2024, 12:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-cicada-recipes/1001823/15 "2024-05-22T12:13:29Z")
[Snappy Cicada Pizza](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p86ch6qVfHU), of course. ---
**Author:** ![chela](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chela/32/21582_2.png) [@chela](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chela)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2024, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-cicada-recipes/1001823/16 "2024-05-23T21:07:30Z")
Why not something alcoholic? > **[Suburban brewpub serving cicada-infused Malört shots](https://wgntv.com/western-suburbs/suburban-brewpub-serving-cicada-infused-malort-shots/)** > > LOMBARD, Ill. — A suburban brewpub is offering a shot that won’t be available for another 17 years. The Noon Whistle Pub, located at 800 East Roosevelt Road in Lombard, is serving up a cicada… I’d try it. ---
**Author:** ![DSeid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dseid/32/20194_2.png) [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2024, 10:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-cicada-recipes/1001823/17 "2024-05-23T22:37:56Z")
Well it can only improve Malort! 😀 ---
**Author:** ![Spiderman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spiderman/32/230_2.png) [@Spiderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spiderman)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2024, 11:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-cicada-recipes/1001823/18 "2024-05-23T23:06:29Z")
> [@Retzbu\_Tox](#): > > **Ingredients:** > > - 1 onion, minced > - 2 tablespoons fresh coriander (cilantro), chopped > - 1 tablespoon fresh ginger, minced > - 3/4 cup sliced carrots > - 3/4 cup chopped cauliflower and/or broccoli > - 1 can water chestnuts > - 3/4 cup bean sprouts > - 3/4 cup snow peas > - 40 blanched newly hatched (teneral) cicadas > > **Directions:** - Capture cicadas at night as they emerge from the ground. - Blanche for 1 minute in boiling water. They can now be stored in freezer or used immediately in recipes. - In a wok or other suitable pan, heat a couple tablespoons of vegetable oil. Add ingredients in the order **EXCEPT cicadas** listed above when those in the most recent addition are partially cooked. - **Add cicadas to trash can** - Serve **first 8 ingredients** over [whole-grain rice](https://health.osu.edu/wellness/exercise-and-nutrition/how-to-reduce-arsenic-in-rice) and add soy sauce to taste Your recipe was slightly off, I fixed it for you. ---
**Author:** ![Retzbu\_Tox](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/retzbu_tox/32/11829_2.png) [@Retzbu\_Tox](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Retzbu_Tox)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2024, 11:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-cicada-recipes/1001823/19 "2024-05-24T11:47:35Z")
> [@Spiderman](#): > > Add cicadas to trash can I dunno. I would at least offer them to my cats. They seem to like them. 😺