Louisiana Recipe for ‘Soft-Shelled Cicadas’ Offers Ultimate Louisiana Solution for Upcoming Swarm

Any day now, two broods of billions of periodical cicadas will emerge from underground at the same time, an event that only takes place every 221 years.

In Louisiana, we're constantly finding creative solutions to problems, so why shouldn't we find a solution to the upcoming swarm of billions of cicadas?

When life hands us billions of cicadas, we make dinner.

Periodical Cicadas Brood XIX and Brood XIII 

In the United States, periodical cicadas are categorized into broods based on the year they emerge.

There are numbered broods for both 17-year and 13-year cicadas, each identified with a Roman numeral. These broods emerge in different years and locations, with some overlapping in some parts of the United States.

When the soil temperature approximately 8 inches underground reaches about 64°F, the nymphs begin to emerge, usually in late spring to early summer.

Then, they then molt for the final time.

Right after the cicadas molt for the final time, the time will be perfect for cooking up some soft-shelled cicadas!

If you don't have a tasty recipe handy, don't sweat it...we found on for you.

Soft-Shelled Cicadas Recipe

That's right, some folks are gearing up for some good eatin' as billions of cicadas start to swarm about.

From The Cajun Keto Chef via Facebook -

"Soft-Shelled Cicadas
It's a rare event for cicadas with a 13-year life cycle and a 17-year life cycle to reach adulthood at the same time.
Any day now, two massive broods of cicadas will emerge from the ground in a double emergence event that hasn't happened in over 200 years. Billions maybe even trillions of these insects will be flying around."

You think cicadas have a nutty kind of taste to them?

OK, so how do you cook up a batch of cicadas?

Here's the recipe posted to the The Cajun Keto Chef Facebook page -

Ingredients

1 cup Worcestershire sauce
60 freshly emerged 17 year cicadas
4 eggs, beaten
3 cups flour
Salt and pepper to season flour
1 cup corn oil or slightly salted butter

Directions

Marinate cicadas, alive in a sealed container, in Worcestershire sauce for several hours.

Dip them in beaten egg, roll them in the seasoned flour, saute them until golden brown.

Yeild:
4 mail dish servings

If eating golden brown fried cicadas doesn't sound good to you, don't worry because there are apparently many other ways to cook them.

Over at bugbible.com, you can find quite a few different recipes for cicadas like Smoked Cicada Salad, Cicada-Potata Soup, Cicada Po-Boys and more.