Guanyun Soybean Hawkmoth Larvae 灌云豆丹

Where it comes from

The Yanhe (盐河), a north-south canal transport route already open in the Tang dynasty, runs through the town of Guanyun, and the Lianyungang city government portal describes the town's own food culture as formed where northern and southern culture meet. In that account, no description of Guanyun food can leave out the larvae. The insect is soft-bodied and lives on soybean leaves, and although the big green caterpillar damages the soybean crop, it is counted a rare delicacy. According to the same article, nobody knows for how many generations people in Guanyun have eaten it, and most of the cooking and eating still follows the old ways, for the sake of the old taste.

How it is made

One traditional dish simmers the larvae with loofah (豆丹烩丝瓜), as made by the traditional larva cook Chen Guangshan (陈光山). In his memory, eating the larvae has always been an everyday thing for local people: in the best season of the year he cooks a big pot and calls the neighbours in to share it.

Newer Guanyun cooks such as Zhang Hongcheng (张鸿成) have taken the larvae in other directions, pairing them with mashed pumpkin in a thick soup (豆丹南瓜羹) or cooking them with crayfish.