CHESTERFIELD, Mo–The Sophia M. Sachs Butterfly House in Faust Park hosted a cicada cooking class today with the “Bug Chef,” who cooked up two popular shrimp-based dishes, but this time using cicadas instead.
Tad Yankoski, the “Bug Chef” and senior entomologist at the Butterfly House, prepared a scampi dish by tossing together butter, white wine, lemon juice, and pan-fried cicadas.
He then made a cicada tempura dish by whisking cake flour, corn starch, an egg, and seltzer water together to create a tempura sauce for coating the cicadas before frying.
Yankoski emphasized the importance of boiling the cicadas for about two minutes to sterilize their outer shells before cooking them in different ways.
If you have a shellfish allergy, it is recommended not to consume cicadas as they are closely related.
Yankoski also mentioned that eating insects is a common practice worldwide, known as entomophagy, and that insects like cicadas provide health benefits such as calcium and iron.
“With the boom of cicadas, we thought it would be a good time to introduce the idea of including insects in our diet,” Yankoski stated.
When not cooking cicadas, Yankoski spends his time as the senior entomologist at the Butterfly House, taking care of their insect collection.
“I spend most of my time keeping our insects alive and healthy, but every once in a while, we have some fun experimenting with bug cooking on the side,” Yankoski added.
Although eating insects is not as common in the United States, Yankoski hopes to raise awareness about the nutritional benefits of including insects in our diet.
Yankoski concluded by mentioning that there are many possibilities for incorporating insects like cicadas into various dishes, whether fried, baked, or used in desserts.
