Eating stink bugs

My housemate bought a bag of live stinkbugs to be cooked and mashed with herbs into a dip but unfortunately I wasn’t there to try it. I was only there to see her put them in the freezer to die.

A week later we saw some deep fried stink bugs at the markets and bought a bag for a dinner we were having for some new volunteers. They have more flavour than grasshoppers. They have a distinct flavour like the smell of a scented leaf.

Tips for buying cooked insects

• Try before you buy!
• If it smells the tiniest bit strange, don’t buy it. It shouldn’t really smell like anything, just the oil it has been fried in or water boiled in.
  

At the markets I saw fried locusts also. I think I draw the line there. I saw shopkeepers pull the abdomens off the live insects. I saw some bee or wasp or similar insect’s nests for sale. Apparently the larvae inside can be eaten. I wonder how they are extracted.

When I was trying some grasshoppers, my friend said that the ones with eggs inside taste better. I agree, but now that I think about it, it doesn’t seem very pleasant!