Making Korean "Bunsik" healthier 

In Korea, "Bunsik" is what we call foods that are eaten as quick snacks. For instance, gimbap and corndogs. Out of these, the most popular or rather a representative 'bunsik' food in Korea is called Tteok-bokki 떡볶이. Although this food is very popular, tteokboki lacks fiber and important dietary nutrients. So today, Eric and I decided to make tteokboki but with a twist to make this 'quick snack' healthier - tteokboki with edible crickets! 

Even thinking about eating dried crickets made Eric and I feel hesitant towards trying this recipe out initially. However, we knew that adding these edible crickets to the dish would make our tteokboki more nutritionally rich in proteins. Not only this but edible crickets (Orthoptera) are also known to be good sources of vitamins, minerals and fiber with 55 to 73% of protein. Thus, we put aside our hesitance to try this dish out and made it! Our end product just tasted like the tteokboki that we would have in "bunsik" restaurants but knowing that it was healthier made us feel more proud with this dish. 

By making tteokboki with edible crickets, we aim to promote the use of edible insects and spread awareness of the importance of using edible insects as an alternative food source for a more sustainable and an environmentally friendly future. 

Tteokboki + mealworm powder recipe: 

ricecake 

olive oil 1 Tablespoon 

red pepper paste 3 Tablespoonn

corn syrup 2 Tablespoon

ketchup 2 Tablespoonn

sugar 2 Tablespoon 

soy sauce 1 Tablespoon

a bit of grated apple 

edible crickets as topping 

Writer : Ella Hong