Its belly is cut open and cleaned of its entrails. Then the grasshoppers are fried without any spices. They are delicious served plain, but are even more tasty when sprinkled with salt and garlic. Ten fried grasshoppers cost Rp 1,500, with an accompanying plate of rice Rp 500. Only particular varieties of the insects make a good meal.
Young grasshoppers are a no-no.
Grasshoppers are only caught in the dry season because there are many mature insects. The collectors then work in the rice fields or collect the eggs of red ants, which are sold as bird feed. Although on average their earnings from selling grasshoppers have increased, grasshopper collectors complain about the increase in the price of rat's glue. Grasshoppers are also becoming scarcer. Gunungkidul collectors no doubt wish they had the problem of people m Lampung, who were recently assaulted by millions of grasshoppers which laid waste to their crops.