The market · Vegetables · East Asia, Southeast Asia
Bamboo shoots
The young shoot of bamboo, dug before it breaks the ground — crisp and mild once boiled, bitter before.
sweet · earthy · crisp
What to do with it
JavaneseLumpia SemarangSpring rolls filled with bamboo shoot, egg and prawn, fried or left soft, with a thick sweet garlic sauce and whole spring onion.No one here has made it yetHuaiyangDazhu gansiPressed tofu shaved into hair-fine threads, simmered in a rich chicken stock with shreds of ham, chicken, bamboo shoot and prawns.No one here has made it yetAnhuiStinky mandarin fishA whole mandarin fish, lightly salted and left for days until it smells, then fried and braised with pork, bamboo shoots and chilli.No one here has made it yetAnhuiHuizhou one-potA deep iron pot layered with bamboo shoots, pork, fried tofu, egg dumplings and greens, simmered slowly and brought to the table whole.No one here has made it yetAnhuiLi Hongzhang hotchpotchA banquet mix of sea cucumber, fish maw, squid, ham, chicken, tofu and mushroom, simmered together in a good stock.No one here has made it yet
Goes with
Knowing it
- Where to buy
- Fresh from Japanese and Chinese grocers in spring; vacuum-packed or tinned, already boiled, the rest of the year.
- Worth knowing
- Fresh shoots must be boiled before eating — traditionally with rice bran — to take out the bitterness. Never eat them raw.
Kitchens that keep it in
Jiangsu province and the lower Yangtze, eastern ChinaHuaiyangDelicate and exact: fine knife work, clear stocks and a gentle sweetness, cooked to bring out an ingredient's own flavour rather than to cover it.7 classicsShanghai, on the Yangtze delta, eastern ChinaShanghaineseSweet, dark and glossy: a port city's home cooking, red-braised in soy, sugar and Shaoxing wine, with soup dumplings, cold 'drunken' dishes and hairy crab in autumn.7 classicsZhejiang province, eastern ChinaZhejiangFresh, mellow and gently sweet: lake fish and river shrimp, young bamboo, cured ham and a good deal of Shaoxing wine, cooked to taste of themselves.7 classicsAnhui province, eastern ChinaAnhuiMountain cooking from old Huizhou: bamboo shoots, mushrooms and cured things, braised long and dark, with a taste for the fermented — stinky fish and hairy tofu.8 classics
