A restaurant called Ramen Nagi in Tokyo, Japan, recently served up piping-hot bowls of noodles—topped with crickets and mealworms. It was so popular, adventurous diners bought 100 servings in just four hours.
Yuta Shinohara is the chef behind the buggy creation. He plans events at Ramen Nagi to encourage people to try entomophagy—the practice of eating insects. Shinohara has eaten insects since he was a kid, and he says they have a taste similar to seafood, like crab or shrimp. To prepare them for his ramen, he deep-fries the bugs to make them crispy.
Shinohara isn’t alone in his love for munching on bugs. More than 2 billion people around the world—in places such as Central and South America, Asia, and Africa—regularly eat insects. “The number one reason why we should eat insects is because they’re delicious,” says Robert Nathan Allen, founder of Little Herds, a nonprofit organization that promotes entomophagy in the U.S. “But the added bonus is they’re also very nutritious,” he says.
Insects are high in protein and packed with essential nutrients, like iron (Fe) and zinc (Zn). Besides being good for you, eating insects is also good for the environment. Pound for pound, raising crickets requires less land, water, and feed than raising livestock, like cows or pigs.
Shinohara hopes more people start dining on bugs. He wants to open his own restaurant focused on insect ramen. “I’d like to spread how fun and delicious it is to eat insects,” he says. But not all insects are safe to eat. If you decide to try eating bugs, stick to those prepared by professionals.