- Title: Mealworm with a side of cricket: South Korea's hopes for edible insect expansion
- Date: 12th August 2016
- Summary: SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA (RECENT - AUGUST 9, 2016) (REUTERS) CHEF ADDING LIQUID EXTRACTED FROM INSECTS FOOD BEING COOKED DRIED MEALWORMS AND LIQUID, POWDER, OIL EXTRACTED FROM DRIED INSECTS DRIED MEALWORMS CHEF ADDING POWDER CHEF MAKING DOUGH CONTAINING LIQUID, POWDER, AND OIL EXTRACTED FROM DRIED INSECTS CHEF MAKING PASTA CHEF SERVING DISHES OF PASTA PASTA ON TABLE BAE AND HER FRIEND EATING PASTA SOUP ON TABLE 18-YEAR-OLD SOUTH KOREAN HIGH SCHOOL STUDENT, BAE SU-HYEON (RIGHT), AND HER FRIEND HAVING LUNCH (SOUNDBITE) (Korean) 18-YEAR-OLD SOUTH KOREAN HIGH SCHOOL STUDENT, BAE SU-HYEON, SAYING: "As the meals were made just like any other food, I didn't feel like I was eating insects. This is interesting. I like this." SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA (RECENT - AUGUST 11, 2016) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF WOMAN EATING BOILED SILKWORM PUPAE, OR BEONDEGI STREET VENDOR SELLING FOOD BOILED SILKWORM PUPAE IN CONTAINER EXTERIOR OF CONVENIENCE STORE VARIOUS OF PRODUCTS INCLUDING SILKWORM PUPAE IN CANS ON SHELF SILKWORM PUPAE IN CAN ON SHELF SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA (RECENT - AUGUST 8, 2016) (REUTERS) EXTERIOR OF SUPERMARKET "NONGHYUP HANARO CLUB" TASTING EVENT FOR INSECT FOOD PRODUCTS MADE WITH EDIBLE INSECTS ON TABLE COOKIE MADE WITH DRIED MEALWORM COOKIES AND DRIED MEALWORM ON DISPLAY CEO OF KOREAN EDIBLE INSECT LABORATORY (KEIL) AND OWNER OF PAPILLION'S KITCHEN, KIM YOUNG-WOOK, DEMONSTRATING HOW WELL LIQUID EXTRACTED FROM INSECTS DISSOLVES IN WATER AT A SEPARATE KIOSK KIM ADDING INSECT POWDER INTO TEST TUBE LIQUID EXTRACTED FROM INSECTS IN CONTAINER KIM YOUNG-WOOK LOOKING AT TEST TUBES, ONE CONTAINING LIQUID EXTRACTED FROM INSECTS ANOTHER CONTAINING INSECT POWDER (SOUNDBITE) (Korean) CEO OF KOREAN EDIBLE INSET LABORATORY (KEIL) AND OWNER OF PAPILLON'S KITCHEN, KIM YOUNG-WOOK, SAYING: "If people taste the food and have a good first impression and find it delicious, that's everything, because taste speaks for itself." COOLING MACHINE CONTAINING GRAPEFRUIT JUICE AND PROTEIN SHAKE MADE WITH LIQUID EXTRACTED FROM INSECTS MACARONS AND ICE-CREAM DISPLAYED WOMAN EATING PIECE OF MACARON AND ICE-CREAM MADE WITH POWDER AND LIQUID EXTRACTED FROM INSECTS 55-YEAR-OLD SOUTH KOREAN CUSTOMER, HONG MI-SUN, AND HER DAUGHTER TAKING PHOTO OF ICE-CREAM (SOUNDBITE) (Korean) 55-YEAR-OLD SOUTH KOREAN CUSTOMER, HONG MI-SUN, SAYING: "From young people to everyone, regardless of their age and gender, people would like this. And it looks pretty, so pretty." HWASEONG, SOUTH KOREA (RECENT - AUGUST 10, 2016) (REUTERS) EMPLOYEES WORKING AT INSECT FARM AS OWNER OF INSECT FARM, KIM JONG-HEE, WEARING GLASSES, CHECKING CONTAINERS OF INSECTS KIM JONG-HEE CHECKING CONDITIONS OF MEALWORMS MEALWORMS ON KIM JONG-HEE'S HAND (SOUNDBITE) (Korean) SOUTH KOREAN INSECT FARMER, KIM JONG-HEE, SAYING: "In the past, people used to shake their heads when they think of bugs, but now more people believe insects are edible and think of this as the future of food." MORE OF EMPLOYEE WORKING VARIOUS OF CRICKETS IN CONTAINER
- Embargoed: 27th August 2016 02:02
- Keywords: insects eat South Korea restaurant bugs Seoul food
- Location: SEOUL AND HWASEONG, SOUTH KOREA
- City: SEOUL AND HWASEONG, SOUTH KOREA
- Country: South Korea
- Topics: Living/Lifestyle,Society/Social Issues
- Reuters ID: LVA0014UTIYIT
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text:A chef at Papillon's Kitchen, a Seoul restaurant specialising in insects, cooks with a special powder and liquid for his dish - sweet potato and fungi pasta and soup using oil, powder and liquids extracted from mealworms.
Eighteen-year-old Bae Su-Hyeon said she couldn't taste any insects in the food.
"As the meals were made just like any other food, I didn't feel like I was eating insects. This is interesting. I like this," said Bae.
Insect-eating, or entomophagy, has long been common in much of the world, including South Korea, where boiled silkworm pupae, or beondegi, are a popular snack.
Now the country is looking to expand the domestic insect industry as a source of agricultural income by promoting more consumption of insects by humans, joining a global trend that has seen rising interest in eating insects as nutritious and environmentally-friendly food.
Insects can be a rich source of fat, protein, vitamins, fibre and minerals, according to the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). The composition of unsaturated omega-3 and six fatty acids in mealworms is comparable to that in fish and higher than in cattle and pigs, the FAO says.
Globally, at least 2 billion people are estimated to eat insects and more than 1,900 species have reportedly been used for food, according to a 2013 FAO report, which said entomophagy could play a key role in food security and environmental protection. Insects require less land and water than cattle.
Kim Young Wook, CEO of the private-sector Korean Edible Insect Laboratory (KEIL) and owner of Papillon's Kitchen, said the key to winning over sceptics is in the taste.
"If people taste the food and have a good first impression and find it delicious, that's everything, because taste speaks for itself," he said this week at a tasting event staged by South Korea's Agriculture Ministry.
Hong Mi-sun, a 55-year-old housewife who came to shop for groceries with her daughter, said she approved of the vanilla ice-cream and pink macarons made with insect oil and powder.
"From young people to everyone, regardless of their age and gender, people would like this. And it looks pretty, so pretty," said Hong.
The South Korean government is promoting edible insects to farmers as cost-effective and ecologically friendly in an effort to make insects a mainstream food resource.
Kim Jong Hee, who has been raising insects in Hwaseong, south of Seoul, since 2000 for animal feed, began farming mealworms and crickets for human consumption in 2013.
"In the past, people used to shake their heads when they think of bugs, but now more people believe insects are edible and think of this as the future of food," he said.
South Korea's insect industry was worth 304 billion won ($278 million) last year, nearly doubling from 2011, although food for humans accounted for just 6 billion won of that, according to government data. The country wants to grow its insect industry to 530 billion won ($482 million) by 2020, with food making up nearly one-fifth of that.
The number of farms in the country growing insects rose to 724 last year, from 265 in 2011. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
- Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2016. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
- Usage Terms/Restrictions: None