Pampanga has built a reputation for having the best cooks and some of the country’s most interesting Filipino cuisine, including exotic ones. And on both counts, the region deserves this stature.
One of the more popular exotic dishes that has become a local delicacy in Pampanga are ones that use kamaru as the main ingredient. The kamaru is a mole cricket, an insect that likes to hang out in rice fields (which is why it is sometimes called the rice field crickets).
One easy way to prepare it the adobo kamaru, which is basically the traditional adobo, but using the insect as meat, as opposed to the usual pork or chicken.
Sometimes, the kamaru is simply stir fried. First, they are boiled in vinegar and garlic, then sautéed in oil, onion, and chopped tomatoes. Once they turn brown, they become crunchy on the outside but moist on the inside, making the kamaru a favorite pulutan (beer food) for many. It also works as a delicious appetizer. Dipped in a sauce of chili, vinegar, soy sauce, onions, pepper and spices, they get an extra kick.
The kamaru is not only a cheaper alternative compared to other meat products (a kilo is only around P50 in the wet market, uncooked), but they also pack lots of protein and B vitamins, which makes them a healthy alternative, too.
Eating the kamaru is an acquired taste to some. But they’re a lot better than they look. And for the adventurous traveler, this is a must-try on your next visit to Pampanga, which is, after all, regarded as the country’s culinary center. After all, one way to make a trip more memorable is to experience unfamiliar things to you. So, go ahead, and take a bit of the yummy kamaru.
