Seasonal Delicacy · Rainy-Season Swarms
Nsenene (Fried Grasshoppers)
Photo: Erinamukuta / Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 4.0
By weight, nsenene are roughly 44% protein — a richer protein density than most cuts of beef.
Nsenene are long-horned bush crickets that swarm over Kampala in clouds during the rainy seasons around May and November, drawn down in their thousands by night-time light traps. Vendors pan-fry them with onion, chili and salt until crisp, selling them hot from roadside pans and even through minibus windows.
Why it's made this way: Long treated as a delicacy and a totem of the Buganda Kingdom, nsenene season turns city streets into an overnight economy, supplying an affordable protein snack to office workers and boda-boda riders alike.
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Part of World of Street Food — 3248 dishes from 118 countries.
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