salagubang
11 May
Two days of rain have drench the near-drought land here in our place. Farmers needed that amount of rain. Our province, Nueva Ecija, is known as the Rice Granary of the Philippines and our rural town is famous for that BIG AND RED ONIONS.
Having said that, with a vast agricultural land to boot, farmers have encounters many a pests that ravaged their crops. One of them is the beetle known locally as SALAGUBANG. Actually, locals here does not consider this insect as a pest. It is actually a rare one, which comes out only at this time of the year, the month of MAY. When the first rain in MAY comes, the beetles come out from underneath the sandy soil near rivers. And, boy! Would you know that locals would literally march their feet off towards the riverbanks, and, at TWILIGHT TIME. Yes! The SALAGUBANGs do come out from the soil at dusk. There should be a SALAGUBANG FESTIVAL, hmmm, might suggest that to the town mayor ^_^.
Even hubby and my son, my brother and his son, and everybody in the neighborhood marches to the fields hoping to catch more beetles. Because when these flying insects reaches the market tomorrow, prices can be as high as P400 per kilo.
I think it is more of the fun and the adventures why people wanted to catch these winged-insects.
wings and feet removed, this "salagubang's" ready for cooking
There’s the quirky beetle, known to be protein-rich. Don’t know anything else what could be there that appeals to the palate that locals here consider it as exotic delicacy. “ADOBONG SALAGUBANG” with tomatoes is famous around town, or better yet, crispy fried salagubang.
Hubby and my two kids will definitely share that plate. I AM TURNING MY PLATE DOWN ^_^
Not yet ready for that exotic food^_^
RECIPE FOR THE ADOBONG SALAGUBANG:
*Saute some garlic, onions, and tomatoes.
*Mix in the “salagubang”.
*Season with ground black pepper, soy sauce and few drops of fish sauce.
