Commentary: Crickets on chicken rice? Eating insects can go from novel to normal in Singapore
SINGAPORE: The first time I chomped on a crispy cricket, it was in Thailand, at a night market in Krabi with American friends. This was 2007 and pre-social media, so I wasn’t doing it for the ‘Gram – I did it to say: “Welcome to Southeast Asia, where we eat everything.”
Perhaps not everything, or at least not yet. Earlier in July, Singapore approved 16 species of insects as food, from house crickets and silkworms to honey bees and the Giant Rhino beetle grub. That scorpion-tarantula-grasshopper skewer I had in Cambodia might have to wait.
My second time was in a Siem Reap restaurant that specialised in bugs. My mum and I sampled the most conspicuously arthropodite dishes on the menu, dreamed up by an ex-Sofitel hotel chef and a French restaurateur. These went onto Facebook with captions like: “SpiderTempura: With great flavour comes great responsibility to eat” and the shocked reactions flowed in.
The next few times, it was usually for a lark while strolling street markets across the region, to show off how unfazed I was by ingesting insects.
DRIED SEA WORMS IN LAKSA?
But I’d like to report that these critters are actually great at conveying flavour.
Flash fried like most street snacks are, their delicate exoskeletons, legs and wings become crispy convoys of seasonings and spices.
The idea of eating insects isn’t completely new to the Singapore food scene. As local foodie folklore goes, hawkers used to enrich laksa gravy with dried sea worms for a powerful punch of umami.
In 2016, the vaunted Native Bar set tongues lapping with its ANTZ elixir: Weaver ants distilled into a concoction of lemongrass gin, coconut yogurt, calamansi and basil, then topped with freeze-dried ants. The drink has since thrilled local and international cocktail connoisseurs, drawing them to the bar for a curious tipple.
NOT SO CREEPY-CRAWLY ON OUR MENUS
Try them once as a fad, they’re this season’s new avocado toast or fried chicken and waffles. Come back because there’ll be more gastronomic creations to delight in as chefs experiment with a new food.
Restaurants are already planning menus to make it deliciously easy to take that first bite.
The House of Seafood restaurant already has about 30 offerings in the works, such as salted egg crab adorned with superworms and cricket-topped sushi. Owner Francis Ng also told local media that he receives five to six calls daily asking about these dishes and expects a 30 per cent revenue increase once they’re on the menu. Insectyumz will launch cricket and mealworm snacks in original and tom yum flavours, and a cricket protein powder.
In our arcadia of haute cuisine and cutting-edge dining institutions, acclaimed and daring chefs can get their Noma on by experimenting with a whole slew of new forms and textures. The (in)famously innovative Copenhagen restaurant was an early pioneer in featuring insects as ultra-modern European gastronomy, introducing fermented cricket paste and crème fraiche with dried ants in 2012.
Some of us may not mind eating insects – say, to nourish both body and eco-conscience – but cannot get over the imagery of creepy crawlies. Some palates clam up, involuntarily clumping these 16 approved insects with undesirable cohorts like cockroaches.
Instead of whole spindly crickets or squishy-looking grub, intrepid chefs are also using them in flour and powder form.
In Europe, the edible insect renaissance has surged consumption of bug-based cereal bars, granola and flour – even creeping into sacred Italian culinary traditions to produce pasta with cricket powder. Just think of how oysters – a decadent status symbol today – used to be scoffed at as ugly, slimy polluted food of the poor in 19th century Britain and America.
Stop thinking reality TV Fear Factor tarantula chomping challenges, lean into the Parts Unknown spirit of the late iconic chef and globe-trotting food lover Anthony Bourdain.
AS LONG AS FOOD IS DELICIOUS AND WALLET-FRIENDLY
Ultimately, people in Singapore will eat most things so long as they’re delicious and wallet-friendly.
Edible insects flit seamlessly into the hearty company of chicken and duck feet, pig’s trotters, fish heads and offal that an outsider might find as gut-churning as insects.
The growing conscious eating movement will also raise the high-protein profile of this antioxidant-packed, more sustainable meat alternative that emits lower greenhouse gases when farmed.
The wellness community will enjoy exploring more gluten-free, low-carb and keto options. According to Brooklyn Bugs founder and chef Joseph Yoon, the cacao taste of mealworms elevates brownies and the nuttiness of cricket powder makes perfect cheesecake sense, so sceptical eaters can let their guards down when insects are disguised into better tasting desserts.
Related:
In the style of food fad frenzies that constantly grip our collective appetites, adventurous eaters and gourmand influencers will tuck in with gusto, and social media chronicles will set off waves of curious epicurean explorations. Perhaps the comforting auras of mala and truffle oil can ease the experience for the slightly-but-not-too-adventurous.
Insect-infused dishes can easily go from novelty to normal. Underground no more, they’ll soar into our food tourism vernacular, whether uplifting hawker favorites or headlining fine dining. Then they’ll settle down, just like Basque burnt cheesecakes and salted egg yolk anything have, and linger on the periphery of menus.
Cricket rice will never knock chicken rice off its throne, but crunchily laced with garlic, a sprinkle of insects would be an aromatic topping to complement that fragrant rice, and give that off-white splay a splash of colour for a picture-perfect platter. Tasty to the palate and tasteful on social media – now, that’s the recipe for a buzzy food fad.
Desiree Koh is a freelance writer based in Singapore.
Source: CNA/yh(ch)
https://www.channelnewsasia.com/commentary/insects-food-singapore-alternative-meat-laksa-cricket-powder-4490986
SINGAPORE: The first time I chomped on a crispy cricket, it was in Thailand, at a night market in Krabi with American friends. This was 2007 and pre-social media, so I wasn’t doing it for the ‘Gram – I did it to say: “Welcome to Southeast Asia, where we eat everything.”
Perhaps not everything, or at least not yet. Earlier in July, Singapore approved 16 species of insects as food, from house crickets and silkworms to honey bees and the Giant Rhino beetle grub. That scorpion-tarantula-grasshopper skewer I had in Cambodia might have to wait.
My second time was in a Siem Reap restaurant that specialised in bugs. My mum and I sampled the most conspicuously arthropodite dishes on the menu, dreamed up by an ex-Sofitel hotel chef and a French restaurateur. These went onto Facebook with captions like: “SpiderTempura: With great flavour comes great responsibility to eat” and the shocked reactions flowed in.
The next few times, it was usually for a lark while strolling street markets across the region, to show off how unfazed I was by ingesting insects.
DRIED SEA WORMS IN LAKSA?
But I’d like to report that these critters are actually great at conveying flavour.
Flash fried like most street snacks are, their delicate exoskeletons, legs and wings become crispy convoys of seasonings and spices.
The idea of eating insects isn’t completely new to the Singapore food scene. As local foodie folklore goes, hawkers used to enrich laksa gravy with dried sea worms for a powerful punch of umami.
In 2016, the vaunted Native Bar set tongues lapping with its ANTZ elixir: Weaver ants distilled into a concoction of lemongrass gin, coconut yogurt, calamansi and basil, then topped with freeze-dried ants. The drink has since thrilled local and international cocktail connoisseurs, drawing them to the bar for a curious tipple.
NOT SO CREEPY-CRAWLY ON OUR MENUS
Try them once as a fad, they’re this season’s new avocado toast or fried chicken and waffles. Come back because there’ll be more gastronomic creations to delight in as chefs experiment with a new food.
Restaurants are already planning menus to make it deliciously easy to take that first bite.
The House of Seafood restaurant already has about 30 offerings in the works, such as salted egg crab adorned with superworms and cricket-topped sushi. Owner Francis Ng also told local media that he receives five to six calls daily asking about these dishes and expects a 30 per cent revenue increase once they’re on the menu. Insectyumz will launch cricket and mealworm snacks in original and tom yum flavours, and a cricket protein powder.
In our arcadia of haute cuisine and cutting-edge dining institutions, acclaimed and daring chefs can get their Noma on by experimenting with a whole slew of new forms and textures. The (in)famously innovative Copenhagen restaurant was an early pioneer in featuring insects as ultra-modern European gastronomy, introducing fermented cricket paste and crème fraiche with dried ants in 2012.
Some of us may not mind eating insects – say, to nourish both body and eco-conscience – but cannot get over the imagery of creepy crawlies. Some palates clam up, involuntarily clumping these 16 approved insects with undesirable cohorts like cockroaches.
Instead of whole spindly crickets or squishy-looking grub, intrepid chefs are also using them in flour and powder form.
In Europe, the edible insect renaissance has surged consumption of bug-based cereal bars, granola and flour – even creeping into sacred Italian culinary traditions to produce pasta with cricket powder. Just think of how oysters – a decadent status symbol today – used to be scoffed at as ugly, slimy polluted food of the poor in 19th century Britain and America.
Stop thinking reality TV Fear Factor tarantula chomping challenges, lean into the Parts Unknown spirit of the late iconic chef and globe-trotting food lover Anthony Bourdain.
AS LONG AS FOOD IS DELICIOUS AND WALLET-FRIENDLY
Ultimately, people in Singapore will eat most things so long as they’re delicious and wallet-friendly.
Edible insects flit seamlessly into the hearty company of chicken and duck feet, pig’s trotters, fish heads and offal that an outsider might find as gut-churning as insects.
The growing conscious eating movement will also raise the high-protein profile of this antioxidant-packed, more sustainable meat alternative that emits lower greenhouse gases when farmed.
The wellness community will enjoy exploring more gluten-free, low-carb and keto options. According to Brooklyn Bugs founder and chef Joseph Yoon, the cacao taste of mealworms elevates brownies and the nuttiness of cricket powder makes perfect cheesecake sense, so sceptical eaters can let their guards down when insects are disguised into better tasting desserts.
Related:
In the style of food fad frenzies that constantly grip our collective appetites, adventurous eaters and gourmand influencers will tuck in with gusto, and social media chronicles will set off waves of curious epicurean explorations. Perhaps the comforting auras of mala and truffle oil can ease the experience for the slightly-but-not-too-adventurous.
Insect-infused dishes can easily go from novelty to normal. Underground no more, they’ll soar into our food tourism vernacular, whether uplifting hawker favorites or headlining fine dining. Then they’ll settle down, just like Basque burnt cheesecakes and salted egg yolk anything have, and linger on the periphery of menus.
Cricket rice will never knock chicken rice off its throne, but crunchily laced with garlic, a sprinkle of insects would be an aromatic topping to complement that fragrant rice, and give that off-white splay a splash of colour for a picture-perfect platter. Tasty to the palate and tasteful on social media – now, that’s the recipe for a buzzy food fad.
Desiree Koh is a freelance writer based in Singapore.
Source: CNA/yh(ch)
https://www.channelnewsasia.com/commentary/insects-food-singapore-alternative-meat-laksa-cricket-powder-4490986
Commentary: Crickets on chicken rice? Eating insects can go from novel to normal in Singapore
SINGAPORE: The first time I chomped on a crispy cricket, it was in Thailand, at a night market in Krabi with American friends. This was 2007 and pre-social media, so I wasn’t doing it for the ‘Gram – I did it to say: “Welcome to Southeast Asia, where we eat everything.”
Perhaps not everything, or at least not yet. Earlier in July, Singapore approved 16 species of insects as food, from house crickets and silkworms to honey bees and the Giant Rhino beetle grub. That scorpion-tarantula-grasshopper skewer I had in Cambodia might have to wait.
My second time was in a Siem Reap restaurant that specialised in bugs. My mum and I sampled the most conspicuously arthropodite dishes on the menu, dreamed up by an ex-Sofitel hotel chef and a French restaurateur. These went onto Facebook with captions like: “SpiderTempura: With great flavour comes great responsibility to eat” and the shocked reactions flowed in.
The next few times, it was usually for a lark while strolling street markets across the region, to show off how unfazed I was by ingesting insects.
DRIED SEA WORMS IN LAKSA?
But I’d like to report that these critters are actually great at conveying flavour.
Flash fried like most street snacks are, their delicate exoskeletons, legs and wings become crispy convoys of seasonings and spices.
The idea of eating insects isn’t completely new to the Singapore food scene. As local foodie folklore goes, hawkers used to enrich laksa gravy with dried sea worms for a powerful punch of umami.
In 2016, the vaunted Native Bar set tongues lapping with its ANTZ elixir: Weaver ants distilled into a concoction of lemongrass gin, coconut yogurt, calamansi and basil, then topped with freeze-dried ants. The drink has since thrilled local and international cocktail connoisseurs, drawing them to the bar for a curious tipple.
NOT SO CREEPY-CRAWLY ON OUR MENUS
Try them once as a fad, they’re this season’s new avocado toast or fried chicken and waffles. Come back because there’ll be more gastronomic creations to delight in as chefs experiment with a new food.
Restaurants are already planning menus to make it deliciously easy to take that first bite.
The House of Seafood restaurant already has about 30 offerings in the works, such as salted egg crab adorned with superworms and cricket-topped sushi. Owner Francis Ng also told local media that he receives five to six calls daily asking about these dishes and expects a 30 per cent revenue increase once they’re on the menu. Insectyumz will launch cricket and mealworm snacks in original and tom yum flavours, and a cricket protein powder.
In our arcadia of haute cuisine and cutting-edge dining institutions, acclaimed and daring chefs can get their Noma on by experimenting with a whole slew of new forms and textures. The (in)famously innovative Copenhagen restaurant was an early pioneer in featuring insects as ultra-modern European gastronomy, introducing fermented cricket paste and crème fraiche with dried ants in 2012.
Some of us may not mind eating insects – say, to nourish both body and eco-conscience – but cannot get over the imagery of creepy crawlies. Some palates clam up, involuntarily clumping these 16 approved insects with undesirable cohorts like cockroaches.
Instead of whole spindly crickets or squishy-looking grub, intrepid chefs are also using them in flour and powder form.
In Europe, the edible insect renaissance has surged consumption of bug-based cereal bars, granola and flour – even creeping into sacred Italian culinary traditions to produce pasta with cricket powder. Just think of how oysters – a decadent status symbol today – used to be scoffed at as ugly, slimy polluted food of the poor in 19th century Britain and America.
Stop thinking reality TV Fear Factor tarantula chomping challenges, lean into the Parts Unknown spirit of the late iconic chef and globe-trotting food lover Anthony Bourdain.
AS LONG AS FOOD IS DELICIOUS AND WALLET-FRIENDLY
Ultimately, people in Singapore will eat most things so long as they’re delicious and wallet-friendly.
Edible insects flit seamlessly into the hearty company of chicken and duck feet, pig’s trotters, fish heads and offal that an outsider might find as gut-churning as insects.
The growing conscious eating movement will also raise the high-protein profile of this antioxidant-packed, more sustainable meat alternative that emits lower greenhouse gases when farmed.
The wellness community will enjoy exploring more gluten-free, low-carb and keto options. According to Brooklyn Bugs founder and chef Joseph Yoon, the cacao taste of mealworms elevates brownies and the nuttiness of cricket powder makes perfect cheesecake sense, so sceptical eaters can let their guards down when insects are disguised into better tasting desserts.
Related:
In the style of food fad frenzies that constantly grip our collective appetites, adventurous eaters and gourmand influencers will tuck in with gusto, and social media chronicles will set off waves of curious epicurean explorations. Perhaps the comforting auras of mala and truffle oil can ease the experience for the slightly-but-not-too-adventurous.
Insect-infused dishes can easily go from novelty to normal. Underground no more, they’ll soar into our food tourism vernacular, whether uplifting hawker favorites or headlining fine dining. Then they’ll settle down, just like Basque burnt cheesecakes and salted egg yolk anything have, and linger on the periphery of menus.
Cricket rice will never knock chicken rice off its throne, but crunchily laced with garlic, a sprinkle of insects would be an aromatic topping to complement that fragrant rice, and give that off-white splay a splash of colour for a picture-perfect platter. Tasty to the palate and tasteful on social media – now, that’s the recipe for a buzzy food fad.
Desiree Koh is a freelance writer based in Singapore.
Source: CNA/yh(ch)
https://www.channelnewsasia.com/commentary/insects-food-singapore-alternative-meat-laksa-cricket-powder-4490986
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