Insects are not even edible… A YouTuber collected lovebugs and made a hamburger steak

The lovebug (red-backed dung fly), which is said to not be edible even to other insects or animals, has no natural enemies. A YouTuber who collected and cooked these lovebugs has drawn attention.

On the 30th of last month, a video titled "I made a burger with tens of millions of lovebugs… I'm really eating it (※Shock Warning)" was uploaded to the YouTube channel 'Lee Chung-geun'.

In the video, Lee Chung-geun climbed to the top of Gyeyang Mountain in Incheon, which was overrun by lovebugs. The area was literally a mess, with lovebug corpses and live adults mixed together.

Dressed in white, which lovebugs are said to prefer, and with lights on, he emphasized, "The more I open my mouth, the more lovebugs enter," while stating that "they are not harmful to humans."

He subsequently filled a black bag with lovebugs he collected from the mountain. During this time, cockroaches and spiders were also found among the lovebugs clinging to the railings.

After returning home, he briefly stored the lovebugs in the freezer. This was to incapacitate them for easier cooking ahead of making hamburger steak.

Frozen lovebugs were mashed with eggs, starch powder, salt, pepper, and oil. The goo that comes from the corpses of lovebugs added viscosity to the mixture. Frozen lovebugs were mashed with eggs, starch powder, salt, pepper, and oil. The goo that comes from the corpses of lovebugs added viscosity to the mixture.

After frying them to a golden brown on both sides, he prepared some sauce to dip, along with beer. After tasting the hamburger steak made from lovebugs without any sauce first, he expressed discomfort, saying, "It has the smell of rotting wood that I sensed on the mountain," and added, "Since I picked them up from the ground, I can even taste the stones."

"It has the smell of rotting wood that I sensed on the mountain."

He continued, "Maybe I added too much flour, so it feels like bread," and noted, "No matter how much I savor it, all I can taste is the nutty flavor."

"No matter how much I savor it, all I can taste is the nutty flavor."

He also tried the lovebug hamburger steak dipped in spicy sauce and tonkatsu sauce, commenting that "the tonkatsu sauce doesn’t really suit it."

"The tonkatsu sauce doesn’t really suit it."

Previously, Lee Chung-geun obtained a hunting license and has been creating content where he hunts harmful species to cook and eat deliciously. This is his second attempt at cooking lovebugs, following his effort last year.

Most netizens who encountered this bizarre food content reacted by saying, "I can't watch it because it’s too disgusting," "Lovebugs can taste good when fried," and "It might have been better to grind them into powder."

YouTube 'Lee Chung-geun'

Image source: youtube 'Lee Chung-geun', instagram 'kimlark34'