Mesoamerica · Volume 01, The Highland Mole and Maize World
Chapulines
Zapotec and Mixtec milpa fields, Oaxaca
Illustration
- Researched
- Researched from 103 sources in the brief
As tradition built it
Chapulines
Boiled, dried, then a few minutes on the comal.
Ingredients
The tradition's method, with the ingredients named. Quantities follow as we verify them.
The boil
- chapulines (grasshoppers), fresh-caught
- to cover water
- to taste salt
- lime juice
The comal
- garlic
- chile habanero
- to taste salt
To serve
- to serve lime
- to serve sal de gusano
Method
- Boil the chapulines in water with salt and lime juice until they turn their red colour.
- Drain them and let them dry.
- Toast them on a comal over a wood fire with garlic and chile, a few minutes, until they are ready to eat.
- Season with salt, and serve as a snack with lime and sal de gusano, in a taco, or over a tlayuda.
Notes
The method is the one El Universal Oaxaca and Fast Company México describe: the boil turns them red, and the comal comes after. Neither gives quantities.
What a modern chef changes
Dehydrated crispness, live-fire toast, finishing dust
Method
- Dehydrate the purged chapulines briefly before toasting, drawing off residual moisture for a crisper, more even result than a straight comal toast on damp insects gives.
- Finish the toast on a Big Green Egg's dry, very high, even heat rather than a stovetop comal, for a genuinely consistent ten-minute toast across a whole batch rather than the uneven hot spots a home hob produces.
- Grind a small portion of the finished chapulines with salt in the spice grinder into a seasoning dust, a concentrated version of the same flavour used to finish a cocktail rim or dust over a taco, rather than only ever served whole.