Japanese Rice Crackers with Whole WASPS Inside

I just saw these rice crackers which are manufactured in Omachi, northwest of Tokyo. They contain the jibachi senbei, or digger wasps, with each rice cracker containing five or six black insects which are clearly visible.

Wasp hunters from the village, who are mostly in their 80’s, catch them in nearby forests. They are then boiled in water, dried and sprinkled over the cracker mix, which is then stamped by hot iron cracker cutters.

A bag of 20 crackers costs £1.60, but output is limited as the wasps are caught in the wild for optimum flavour. (Obviously, judging from this person’s fingernails..)

From Arbroath via Tastespotting

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