Food is what we all enjoy taking ND much efforts are put in place in order to select and prepare dishes that are rich in nutrients. We all have our regular food that we enjoy always and they are easily accessible. But most foods are seasonal like the one I am about to present to you now.
Edible Termites
Among my siblings, I can say that I am the only one that enjoy this Termites more. The reason is because I had lived with my Auntie in Anambra State which is a different state from my state of residence. There, almost everyone enjoys eating this termite.
This Termite is seasonal. They only come out in June when rain is heavy. They are attracted by lights outside the house and they fall on their own. So long as there is light in the neighborhood, they are attracted and anyone is free to pick them.
However, not everyone enjoys eating them here in Nigeria. Some detest it while others love it so much like I do.
Back then in Anambra State, we do eat it even raw. It is very nutritious and a good source of protein. Or prepare it the way you are seeing in the opening image.
Before now, I only buy the already prepared one whenever I travel to Abia State because it is not well known in my current city of residence and I have not seen it fall during the season until I packed to my new house.
I was surprised to see them one morning when I woke up and went outside. The thing is that, when they fall that way, they are not able to go back to where they came from. Most of them remove their wings and hide under the stones around or anything at all. While those who are not able to remove their wings remain on the ground weak. And ones the sun comes out, they all die off.
And so this faithful morning, I was privileged to catch them in quantum in the morning. In my compound, I found some but not much because there was no outside or security lights. But they were attracted by the shining roofing sheets. Below is the pictures of the ones I caught around my house
 | this is the quantity. They are still with their wings. |
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 | here, I had washed them thoroughly and put in the frying pan for frying. |
 | this is the result. I only garnished with onions because I didn't have all ingredients. |
Just when I thought I had seen them all, my neighbor came around and gave me some of those he had caught and told me that they were still much in his compound because there was security lights. I went there and behold, there were much more than I could even imagined.
 | these ones had removed their wings and hide under a stone that I turned. |
|---|---|
 | these o es are weak and are hiding under the grasses. |
Even the kids assisted in picking them
 | you can see them being picked by the kids around |
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We picked as much as we could and got tired and then went in to prepare them but that was when I came back from the market to buy foodstuffs.
Ingredients/Preparation
It doesn't take much to prepare as far as I know. I don't know about others but what I was taught is that it is prepared with the following ingredients
- Salt
- Fresh pepper
- Onions
- And any bitter leaf around but preferably Utazi leaf.
- Preparation Steps
One of the things that makes me detest the ones sold in the market is sand. Because they are picked from the ground, they are usually sandy if not properly washed.
So, in preparing these ones, I took my time to wash them in a large quantity of water to be able to wash off the sand on them.
Next, I put them into a washed frying pan and salted them. Oil is not used when frying it. I just put them that way and turned until the water on them is dried off. I kept turning until the aroma came out and they fried properly and become crunchy and munchy.
Then, I turned them into flat plate and removed the wings that weren't burned up by frying.
Then I garnished with onions, utazi leaf and pepper and enjoyed with family and neighbors including the kids that were around.
Guess what? Even those that said that they had not eaten it before and we're doing as if they detest it couldn't resist it. They all enjoyed it with me. See some pictures below of the termites
 | this is when I had finished frying and turned it into a tray to remove the wings |
|---|---|
 | this is my selfie with the termite. The picture is not bright because my screen is cracked. |
 | as we were enjoying it. |
Trying to find out the names in different languages
I decided to share these garnished termites on my WhatsApp status and on the WhatsApp group I created for African steemians to learn how it is called. I also shared it in my Facebook page and Below is the results that I got
 | this screenshot is taken from the WhatsApp group |
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I will still like to learn more about the names. I want to invite my foreign friends to tell me if it's known in their country, if it's edible over there and what it is called
@patjewell @irawandedy @m-fdo @graceleon @olesia @stef1 @kuoba01 and others. Thank you all for reading through.
This is my introductory post here