Live Crickets

We also ate insects, such as crickets. When I caught a cricket, I would simply put it straight into my mouth. That’s how I ate it alive. *1

INGREDIENTS

• Crickets (fresh, if available)

PREPARATION

1. Catching Crickets: If possible, catch fresh crickets.

2. Eating: Place the crickets directly into your mouth and chew.

Note: Eating live insects is practiced in various cultures and may require some adjustment. Ensure that they are from a safe source and have not been exposed to pesticides or other chemicals. If crickets are too unappealing to eat raw, you can also prepare them, for example by toasting them in a dry pan, which may improve their taste and texture.

Mao Zedong’s policy during the implementation of the Five-Year Plan, known as the Great Leap Forward (1958–1962), adhered to the slogans: more, better, faster, and cheaper. Mao wanted to make China the leading industrial power in the world at all costs. The implementation of the Great Leap Forward caused unprecedented devastation in every area of the economy, most dramatically affecting rural areas. The countryside was subjected to forced collectivization, with peasants’ property confiscated and concentrated into gigantic People’s Communes, where food was distributed in communal dining halls based on merit. Various forms of “substitute food,” such as paper pulp, were introduced. Soon, a famine of proportions never before seen in the world engulfed all of China.

*1 From the account of Chef Yan, a cook in a small street restaurant on the outskirts of Chengdu, the capital of Sichuan Province. Yan comes from Ziyang County in central Sichuan, where a large number of people died during the famine. Despite his family’s culinary ingenuity, he lost his father, and his mother suffered severe swelling due to hunger. He and his sisters tried to survive on their own. Even today, he vividly remembers the various things he and his fellow villagers ate to stave off hunger and survive.

[Link to Source](https://brill.com/view/journals/asme/7/2/article-p384_6.xml?language=en)