Chapulines (Toasted Grasshoppers with Lime and Chilli)

Name: Chapulines (Toasted Grasshoppers with Lime and Chilli)
Prep time: 5 min
Cook time: 10 min
Total time: 15 min
Yield: 4 servings
Cuisine: Mexican
Ingredients: 100 g chapulines (boiled and dried edible grasshoppers); 1 tbsp neutral oil or lard; 3 cloves garlic; 1 tbsp lime juice; 1 tsp chile de árbol powder; 0.5 tsp salt; 8 corn tortillas; 1 bowl guacamole; 1 lime

Oaxaca's grasshopper snack: boiled and dried grasshoppers toasted crisp on a dry comal and tossed with garlic, lime juice, chilli powder and salt. Eaten by the handful or on tortillas with guacamole. The whole insect is eaten, shell and all, so there is nothing for cooking to tenderise. The one thing the cook controls is water: dry is crunchy, damp is leathery.

Ingredients

4servings

chapulines (boiled and dried edible grasshoppers) · food-grade only; Mexican grocers or online100 g
neutral oil or lard1 tbsp
garlic · finely chopped3 cloves
lime juice1 tbsp
chile de árbol powder · or cayenne1 tsp
salt0.5 tsp
To serve
corn tortillas8
guacamole1 bowl
lime · wedges1

Steps

Shake the chapulines in a sieve to get rid of loose bits. It does not matter if plenty of legs come off.
⏲ 1 min
Heat a comal or heavy pan over medium heat with no oil. Spread the chapulines out and toast them for 3-4 minutes, shaking often, until the sound on the pan turns to a dry crackle and they smell nutty.
⏲ 3 min 30 sec
Add the oil and garlic and toast 1 minute more. Move on before the garlic burns.
⏲ 1 min
Take the pan off the heat and toss quickly with the lime juice, chilli powder and salt.
⏲ 30 sec
Put it back over low heat for 1 minute, turning, until the lime juice has dried to a film on the surface. Left wet, they go soft.
⏲ 1 min
Spread them on a wide plate to cool; they crisp further as they cool. Eat them as they are, or on warm tortillas with guacamole.
⏲ 2 min

Tips & Variations

Variations

In tlayudas and tacos: in Oaxaca they also go into tlayudas and tacos, and often with melted cheese.
On guacamole: chapulines scattered over guacamole is a common restaurant plate now — something crisp on something soft.
With mezcal: eaten as a botana alongside Oaxaca's mezcal.
Starting from raw grasshoppers: collected or raw ones are first boiled about 5 minutes in salted water, drained and dried, then toasted as above. They are never eaten raw.

Tips

The shell is the food. A shell is usually something you do not eat. Chilli crab cracks the claws and says why: "Two reasons: sauce gets inside the shell, and people can open them without tools." The shell is something sauce goes into and diners open. Poo pad pong curry's variation uses soft-shell crab, which means no shells to work through — a crab caught just after moulting. Chapulines are eaten shell and all from the start.
So there is nothing for cooking to tenderise. The tenderising in braising is about collagen, which "breaks down into gelatin given heat and time." A grasshopper's shell is not collagen, and no amount of cooking loosens it. The only thing the cook moves is water: dry is crunchy, damp is leathery.
Lime last, then dry it again. Lime juice is the main flavour, and it is water. Added while they toast it turns to steam and takes the crunch; added and left, it makes them soggy. Toss it in off the heat, then give it a minute over low heat to dry to a film.
They crisp as they cool. Straight out of the pan there is still steam leaving them. Spread out to cool, they firm up.
Not for anyone with a shellfish allergy. ko.wikipedia notes that edible insects can cause reactions in people allergic to crustaceans and shellfish, because the two are biochemically similar.
Buy from a reliable source. In 2007 there were reports of possible lead contamination in some imported chapulines. Use a product sold as food, never raw ones or ones of unknown origin. They are harvested from May into late summer or early autumn.