Recipe: Cricket Hummus

INTRO

As wholesomely satisfying as it is, hummus isn’t much more than chickpea puree. For this reason, hummus makes a solid foundation to support the addition of a wide range of ingredients for some real culinary risk-taking, even if you’re not an experienced cook; all you need is a few ingredients, and a blender. Cooking your own dried chickpeas (not canned) will be more time-consuming, but will give you more control over the texture of the hummus, allowing it to be much creamier—not to mention lower sodium. This recipe is such that the taste is instantly recognizable to anyone who knows the distinct acheta flavor, but if you want to ease into entomophagy incrementally, you can always reduce the amount of cricket powder. If thematicism is your thing, feel free to sprinkle Incredible Foods cricket salt, or Merci Mercado sal de gusano on top, and pair with Crickelle, the cricket crackers by Crické. If your style is brash and confrontational, you can always garnish with freeze-dried crickets just before serving, for maximum effect. In the hummus pictured, I used cricket powder from Entomo Farms, and garnished it with Original Flavor Hiso Snack Crickets.

INGREDIENTS

1 (15-ounce) can chickpeas or 1 1/2 cups cooked chickpeas
2 teaspoons baking soda (if cooking dry chickpeas)
1/4 cup tahini
Juice of 1 large lemon (approximately ¼ cup)
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for drizzling before serving
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
4 tablespoons cricket powder
2 to 5 tablespoons chickpea water, or ice water
Dash ground paprika, cricket salt, or sal de gusano, or other pepper, to taste
Salt, to taste

INSTRUCTIONS

1. If you are using canned chickpeas, skip to the next step. If you will be cooking dried chickpeas, rinse them first and remove any debris from the chickpeas. Soak them overnight with enough water to cover them fully, and add 1 tsp baking soda to the soak. Baking soda will weaken the beans and make them softer, and easier to cook later. The next day, rinse the chickpeas before cooking, so the baking soda will not affect the flavor. While baking soda makes the beans easier to cook makes for an all-around creamier hummus, some people think baking soda leaves a soapy flavor behind, which can be avoided by rinsing the garbanzos before cooking. After rinsing, boil the chickpeas for approximately ten minutes, then reduce heat to simmer for about one hour, while you prepare the other ingredients.

2. Garlic’s sharp flavor comes from an enzymatic reaction by the enzyme alliinase, which is produced after the cell walls are damaged from cutting, and it can be softened with either heat or acid. If you want to tame your garlic, heat it up in the microwave for 3 minutes before cutting, or put it in the food processor together with the lemon juice and tahini, and puree for at least a minute, until thoroughly mixed. You can also soak the garlic in lemon juice for 10 minutes before combining the three ingredients. If you want to preserve garlic’s bite, puree the tahini and lemon juice alone first for one minute, then add the garlic with the rest of the ingredients.

3. Add garlic to the tahini mixture if you haven’t already, along with olive oil, cumin, and most of the cricket powder, reserving some to adjust for taste towards the end. Puree until completely blended; one to three minutes.

4. If you cooked your chickpeas, check on them. They will be ready when thy are quite tender, maybe losing their shells in the water. Drain them, but reserve some of the liquid in case you need to thin your hummus later. You may remove the shells, if you want extra-creamy hummus. If you are using canned chickpeas, just drain and rinse them. Add chickpeas slowly, stopping to puree mixture from time to time before adding more.

5. When you have added all of the chickpeas, test your hummus for texture and taste. If it is too thick, add some of the chickpea liquid, or ice water if you’re using canned chickpeas, approximately one tablespoon at a time. If your hummus is too bland, add more cricket powder. If it needs a sharp kick, add lemon or garlic.

6. When you’re happy with the flavor and consistency, put your hummus in a bowl, cover, and let it sit for half an hour, for the flavors to mingle. If you don’t plan on eating immediately, it will keep for up to two days refrigerated. If you refrigerate it, let it warm slowly by removing it from the fridge half an hour before serving.

7. Before serving, drizzle with olive oil and garnish with paprika, sal de gusano, cricket salt, or your favorite pepper, and even freeze-dried crickets, if desired. Serve with crackers, bread, or vegetables such as carrots and celery.