VOA文化艺术2023--In Japan, Silkworms, Crickets, Bugs Are on the Table

In Japan, Silkworms, Crickets, Bugs² Are on the Table

More restaurants in Japan are offering bugs in their dishes.

On a recent vacation in Tokyo, Takumi Yamamoto ate a special lunch of cricket curry³ and silkworm sashimi, which is usually made with raw fish. He drank a water bug¹ cider.

The 26-year-old office worker is one of many people around the world with a growing interest in entomophagy, or the practice of eating insects. Bugs are slowly becoming more usable as a food source.

Yamamoto said he sometimes ate grasshoppers⁴ dipped in soy sauce as a child. In Tokyo, he ate insect foods at Take-Noko cafe, which serves many bug dishes.

"It's fun to select from a wider variety of dishes," Yamamoto said. "Everything was tasty. In particular, the water bug cider was quite refreshing⁵ ... like a green apple."

Entomophagy started to be taken seriously after the United Nations declared bugs a good source of protein to feed a growing world population. With livestock⁶ farming's effects on climate change and world hunger issues from weather and war, there has been more interest in the nutrition bugs can provide.

Some people think eating insects is just gross. But Japan has a rich history of using insects as food.

Grasshoppers, silkworms and wasps⁷ were traditionally eaten in areas of the country with little meat and fish. It was a practice that grew in popularity because of food shortages during and after World War II, said Take-Noko manager Michiko Miura.

"Recently, there have been advances in rearing things like crickets and mealworms for food, so the possibility of using insects as ingredients is really growing," she added. Several companies in Japan sell cakes and snacks made from cricket flour.

Interest has also grown at Take-Noko, which is often fully⁸ reserved on weekends.

The restaurant's curry contains crickets in meatball form. The "sashimi" is the left-over shell of silkworms, and the cider contains water bug extract and is topped with a whole insect.

Takeo Saito started the restaurant. He also has a packaged food company that offers more than 60 kinds of bug foods, from scorpions⁹ to tarantulas.

"Our aim is not for insects to be something separate, but to be enjoyed at the same table as vegetables, fish, and meat," Saito said.

Words in This Story

cider — n. a drink made from apples

gross — adj. very disgusting

practice — n. to do something again and again in order to become better at it

manager — n. someone who is in charge of a business, department, etc.

rear — v. to take care of

snack — n. a small amount of food eaten between meals

reserve — v. to make arrangements so that you will be able to use or have at a later time

extract — v. to remove by pulling it out or cutting it out

 

package — n. a box or large envelope that is sent or delivered usually through the mail or by another delivery service

1 bug   

n.虫子；故障；窃听器；vt.纠缠；装窃听器

参考例句：

• There is a bug in the system.系统出了故障。
• The bird caught a bug on the fly.那鸟在飞行中捉住了一只昆虫。

2 bugs   

adj.疯狂的，发疯的n.窃听器( bug的名词复数 )；病菌；虫子；[计算机]（制作软件程序所产生的意料不到的）错误

参考例句：

• All programs have bugs and need endless refinement. 所有的程序都有漏洞，都需要不断改进。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The sacks of rice were swarming with bugs. 一袋袋的米里长满了虫子。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 curry   

n.咖哩粉，咖哩饭菜；v.用咖哩粉调味，用马栉梳，制革

参考例句：

• Rice makes an excellent complement to a curry dish.有咖喱的菜配米饭最棒。
• Add a teaspoonful of curry powder.加一茶匙咖喱粉。

4 grasshoppers   

n.蚱蜢( grasshopper的名词复数 )；蝗虫；蚂蚱；（孩子）矮小的

参考例句：

• Grasshoppers die in fall. 蚱蜢在秋天死去。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• There are usually a lot of grasshoppers in the rice fields. 稻田里通常有许多蚱蜢。 来自辞典例句

5 refreshing   

adj.使精神振作的，使人清爽的，使人喜欢的

参考例句：

• I find it'so refreshing to work with young people in this department.我发现和这一部门的青年一起工作令人精神振奋。
• The water was cold and wonderfully refreshing.水很涼，特别解乏提神。

6 livestock   

n.家畜，牲畜

参考例句：

• Both men and livestock are flourishing.人畜两旺。
• The heavy rains and flooding killed scores of livestock.暴雨和大水淹死了许多牲口。

7 wasps   

黄蜂( wasp的名词复数 )； 胡蜂； 易动怒的人； 刻毒的人

参考例句：

• There's a wasps' nest in that old tree. 那棵老树上有一个黄蜂巢。
• We live in dread not only of unpleasant insects like spiders or wasps, but of quite harmless ones like moths. 我们不仅生活在对象蜘蛛或黄蜂这样的小虫的惧怕中，而且生活在对诸如飞蛾这样无害昆虫的惧怕中

8 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。

9 scorpions   

n.蝎子( scorpion的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• You promise me that Black Scorpions will never come back to Lanzhou. 你保证黑蝎子永远不再踏上兰州的土地。 来自电影对白
• You Scorpions are rather secretive about your likes and dislikes. 天蝎：蝎子是如此的神秘，你的喜好很难被别人洞悉。 来自互联网