Six-Legged One, Please

Hi!

Am I back too quickly ?

Yes I am, because I have something novel to share!

You may find this post is unbelievable, yet it's true that the world starts embracing a new sort of food source. This can be a no way for certain people. Nevertheless, this is what our future is facing as we need to eat every day regularly. Probably, some countries are common with what I'm going to share today, because it is massively produced even every single day. On the other hand, some countries would think it is something not worth consuming.

Today, I'm talking about insects as our future food prospects

offgridweb.com

As I have said before, some parts of the globe have already been common to consume insects. Whereas, some other think that consuming insect is a taboo activity. This eating-insect activity is usually called entomophagy. First thing first, I'd like to define what insects are. Insects are a class of animals, categorized in the arthropod group that have a chitinous exoskeleton, a three-part body (head, thorax and abdomen), three pairs of jointed legs, compound eyes and two antennae. Insects have existed since millennia ago and been helpful for human as they produce some valuable products for human's life, for example honey (from bees), silk (from silk worm), carmine (color additive from Hemiptera bugs), and some medical remedies. 

According from Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO), there are some major groups of insects that are used to be consumed, e.g. Beetles (31%); Caterpillar (18%); Bees, Wasps, and Ants (14%); Grasshoppers, Locusts, and Crickets (13%); and some other more. Only few documents have successfully reported the countries that have consumed insects long time ago. People in Republic of Congo consume caterpillars during rainy season, in which caterpillars play essential role to maintain food security as fish and game are hardly to hunt. Moving to Asia, especially South-East Asia, people of Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, and Vietnam are used to consume insects as they can collect the insects throughout the year from a various range of habitats. Last but not least, let's fly to Latin America, where people there have deep knowledge about insects, of which they believe that insects have particular connection with natural phenomena. In Mexico, chapulines are harvested in rainy season; in Columbian Amazon, snout beetle are hunted during rainy season; and in Ecuadorian highlands, Platycoelia lutescens beetle are available in markets during winter. 

thegatewaybug.com

Now, let's take a look on how nutritious insects are. Most nutrients found in insects are protein, fats, and fiber. Nonetheless, the amount of nutrition happen to be in insects are various based on their habitats, feeds, and some are related to their metamorphosis steps. 

1. Proteins

Protein contained in insects can be in a range of 7 - 48 g (/100g fresh weight), depending on species and their morphology. While, fish and cattle have around 13 - 28 g (/100g fresh weight) of protein. This means, that insect can be a complementary protein source when including animal source protein. 

2. Fats

Insects are good sources of essential fatty acids, such as linoleic and α-linolenic acids. Overall, insects may contain approximately 9 - 67% of fats (% of dry matter), which most of them are mono- and polyunsaturated fatty acids. 

3. Minerals and Vitamins

Some minerals, like potassium and sodium can occur in high amount in insects. Moreover, zinc and iron are present as minor minerals, yet can cover the recommended dietary allowances. Meanwhile for vitamins, insects are rich in vitamin B complex, e.g. thiamine (B1), riboflavin (B2), and cobalamin (B12).

4. Fiber

Fiber source found in insects is due to its chitinous exoskeleton, which chitin is recognized as crude fiber. This fiber is approximately 2.7 - 49.8 mg (/kg fresh weight).

thegatewaybug.com

I do want to share more about these insects, yet I think it's quite enough for now.

I don't want to make a very long post, because this should be a fun reading and learning, not something so boring with many texts appear on your screen.

I hope this is meaningful to you, and see you in my next post!

Reference :

Arnold van Huis, et al. 2013. Edible Insects : Future Prospects for Food and Feed Security. Rome : Food and Agricultural Organization of  The United Nations.

Korean Again ? Yes Way !

Good morning, friends !

I feel sorry that I have posted nothing since approximately 3 months ago

No matter what happened, I'm back !

Today's post, I'd like to share to you about my Korean lunch again.

This dish is quite famous in its origin country, it's spicy, hot, and a bit fishy (?) 

You must've bet what kind of cuisine this is, must you not ?

...and by the way, I made this by myself again, with a handful assistance from my little sister.

You are right,

Today's menu is Jjampong!

Jjampong is a spicy seafood stew. Koreans usually serve it with noodle, but in my version, I eat it with rice, instead. Thus, you will not see any kinds of noodles appear on my grocery list... hahaha.

Let's start to cook!

First thing first, I'm showing you every ingredients you need to make Jjampong

I. Ingredients

- Any kind of sea products (e.g. shrimps, squids, mussels, clams, crabs, scallops). Mine used peeled squids and clams. I peeled 4 to 5 squids, so they look white and clean. Also, I pre-boiled around 1 pound of clams within salted water for 15 minutes, that helps shorten cooking time thereafter.

II. Seasonings

- 4 to 5 red chilies, slice in big chunks

- 1 medium tomatoes, cut into 12 slices

- 2 pieces of bay leaves

- 5 cloves of garlic, thinly slice them

- 1 small lemon grass

- 2 to 3 green onions, chop them to small pieces

- 2 tablespoons of soy sauce (salted)

- Salt and sugar

- Gochujang (Korean red chili paste)

III. Procedure

- Prepare all of those ingredients and seasonings

- Pour 2 or 3 tablespoons of cooking oil, let it heat up for a minute

- Add garlic and chilies to cooking oil, stir fry them until the garlic is a bit brown

- Add tomatoes, lemon grass, and bay leaves. Let them sit for a couple of minutes, wait until the tomatoes and bay leaves turn a little withered. 

- After those ingredients are evenly cooked, put all the squids and clams together. Mix all in there together, the squids and clams have to absorb all of the flavor from the ingredients added. 

- When the squids start to feel a bit dense, add some water and get it simmered.

- If you see bubbles start coming up from the bottom of the pan, add around 1 and a half tablespoons of gochujang (Korean red chili paste)

- Stir them all for a while, and last but not least, sprinkle some of green onions. Don't forget to turn off the stove, afterward.

- That's it, Jjampong is ready to serve !

This is how my Jjampong look like

For your information only : If you would rather eat Jjampong with noodles, you may add the noodles right before you turn off the stove. It is when all the ingredients are actually well cooked, then you add the noodles, let it there for a couple of minutes to soften and stir them all. This way, your noodle is not going to be over cooked and mushy. And yes, if you prefer more spicy taste, you can either add red chilies or gochujang to your Jjampong. It's up to your palate.

All right, I think that's my recipe for today.

Please, tell me if you try it at home, and share some of your kitchen stories.

See you next time, friends!