This is one killer delicacy.
As zoologists and pest-control experts rush to eradicate the Asian “murder hornet” — the latest much-buzzed-about threat to invade our social feeds — gourmands in Japan can’t get enough of the crunchy, zesty snack.
In more rural parts of Central Japan, giant hornets — which have infamously killed several people in recent years — have long been consumed in a variety of forms, and valued as a traditional source of cheap protein. The 2-inch long adult insects can even be found pan-fried and skewered for an on-the-go treat.
“People have compared it to a popcorn-y flavor without the butter,” Joseph Yoon, independent chef and founder of Brooklyn Bugs, told The Post. “Depending on how you prepare it, it can have different flavors.” For example, marinated larvae of these Japanese hornets will take on the flavor of the submersion liquid, he explains.
Foodies in Tokyo have become big fans of a more upscale version of the exotic cuisine. Currently, more than 30 restaurants in the city have giant hornets on the menu, the New York Times reports. When they are steamed with rice they create a popular entree called hebo-gohan, and their drowned corpse and preserved venom are also key ingredients in some types of shochu, a clear distilled liquor of Japan.
Shota Toguchida, who owns a Chinese restaurant there, sells what is essentially hornet moonshine for 2,000 yen (about $19). “It looks surprising — but tastes great,” Toguchida told the outlet.
Sure, average American eaters might think these hornet dishes sound disgusting — but “that’s part of the challenge I have when talking to people about how [insect dishes are] made … It’s so unique,” said Yoon, who is currently working with food scientists and chefs to put together an “insect flavor bible” to help intrepid cooks learn where bugs can best be worked into home cooking.
Yoon, in fact, spent the first month of social isolation eating a vegetarian diet “bolstered only by insect protein.”
“There couldn’t be a better time to talk about edible insects than during a pandemic,” he said. “We’re talking about something that’s endorsed by the United Nations for nutrition and sustainability,” he says. Plus, it’s “self-stable.”
A festival called Kushihara Hebo Matsuri in the Gifu prefecture, a state in Japan’s central Chūbu region, is devoted to the daring murder hornet dishes. Like any state fair, prizes are awarded to largest nests, which are later auctioned to brave bidders.
Festival-goers know full-well the risks.
A flier from 2018 even warned guests to “please take ample care to avoid being stung,” and added that organizers “bear absolutely no responsibility” should anyone be hurt, or murdered, by a hornet. Local governments are known to issue similar advisories in the spring, telling citizens to beware of “giant sparrow hornets” and avoid perfumes and hair sprays, lest they want to attract the outsized wasp.
Foragers trek through forests to root for giant hornets’ nests using a piece of fish to tempt the bug. When the wasp breaks off a hunk of meat, hunters take off behind it on a race to the nest. They then use smoke to disorient the insects, and chainsaws to extract the colony.
Veteran exterminator Torao Suzuki, 75, told the Times that he also sells excavated nests to be cut open and lacquered, and put on display in homes, schools and other institutions as decor.
Suzuki doesn’t eat them, adding that people have told him the ingredient “makes them potent.”