Kapampangan Delicacy · Fried Mole Crickets
Camaru
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These insects aren't hunted down — camaru swarm out of Pampanga's rice paddies on their own after the first rains, turning pest control into a seasonal delicacy.
Mole crickets caught fresh from Pampanga's rice fields, including the wetlands around Candaba, are cleaned, then sautéed in vinegar, garlic, and pepper until crisp, served as a crunchy pulutan alongside rice or drinks. The dish appears seasonally, timed to when the crickets emerge from the paddies in numbers.
Why it's made this way: Pampanga's rice-growing wetlands naturally produce a mole-cricket boom after each harvest, and Kapampangan cooks turned what could have been a farming nuisance into a signature regional dish still called kamaru today.
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