Adobong Kamaru, a Filipino Exotic Food Recipe

There are plenty of dishes whose ingredients are unexpected, or even downright bizarre. One way to hype up your next trip's adventure factor is to try things that are unfamiliar to you, including new foods or should I say exotic foods. 

 

Mostly, the main ingredients in Filipino exotic dishes, are insects or bugs. One of it is the Adobong Kamaru. It's probably one of the best culinary traditions in Pampanga. It is just like a normal adobo but the main ingredient is substituted by Kamaru, and sometimes serve with tomatoes. Kamaru is a mole cricket, from the family Gryllotalpidae, in the order Orthoptera. 

Size and appearance plays a part with mole crickets, but most of them are just the  usual insect-size , typically 3-5 cm long. This insects are muscular, you can justify this by holding one in the hand; this insects are inoffensive, but the constrained insect will try to dig its way out with ample amount of force. The abdomen is the softest of its body parts, but the head, forelimbs, and prothorax are heavily sclerotize. 

 

It is scientifically proven that this insect is definitely edible, but it is recommended to remove the harder outer wings and legs before eating these creepy crawlers. They are close to a staple protein source and are not toxic in any way, they are also completely harmless indoors, as they cannot bite or sting, and they do not feed on fabric, paper or house structures. 

Sometimes, they eat vegetables because occasionally, they are crops' pest. They go very well with cold beer. They are crispy on the outside, moist in the middle, making it a favorite pulutan for the Kapampangans. Mole crickets are seasonal in the Philippines and many people check with their favorite Filipino restaurant first to make sure they are available before deciding to eat there. Five ounces of mole crickets have 28% of the daily protein you need and 74% of the calories, according to a 2008 study.

Ingredients:

• ¼ kilo of kamaru (mole crickets)
• 3 pcs tomatoess
• 1 medium size onion sliced
• ¼ cup minced garlic
• ¼ cup vinegar
• 2-5 pcs chili ( labuyo )
• 1 tsp salt and pepper

Preparation:

To prepare Adobong Kamaru, first, wash the Kamaru very well, make sure to expel all the dirt, better yet soak it in water or vinegar if you have doubt. Then, sauté garlic and onion. Add the sliced tomatoes, siling labuyo and the Kamaru. Mixed it well and simmer for 5 minutes. Add the ¼ cup of vinegar and wait for 2 minutes. Don’t mixed it just let it boil. Add salt and pepper to taste and serve. 

 

It's a very simple dish, can be prepared quickly and really affordable, if you can catch the Kamarus by yourself. At first sight, you might doubt if this food can really be eaten or not because it's gross and creepy looking. It's true that this food is not appealing and attractive to our sight but there is a saying that don't judge the book by its cover, so we better apply it even on simple things like trying new dishes and you can see that after trying it, you will not be bothered anymore about how it looks, instead, you'll love it and ask for more. You can never know unless you try!

Too exotic or not? Any exotic recipes you might want to share? Feel free...