Fresh bamboo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Jenise]

One of my 'fetishes' is bamboo shoots. I buy the shoots pickled and preserved in chile oil and eat them straight out of the jar for a snack/treat. And fresh bamboo was one of the epiphanies of our trip to China two summers ago. So boy was I excited to find fresh "white bamboo" (per the package) imported from China yesterday at an Asian market in Richmond BC yesterday afternoon.

I've never worked with fresh bamboo before, but my understanding of the preparation requirements is that after peeling they'll need to undergo a series of boilings to remove something toxic as well as tenderize. If what I bought yields enough, I'll use them in a stir fry as well as make a dish of lightly pickled shoots in oil, white wine vinegar and chilies, a simple preparation that flatters the delicate flavors and textures of the fresh product and that was my favorite thing about a meal we had in Beijing one night.

Here's a picture of the fresh bamboo I bought:

BambooShoots.JPG

I don't think I've ever seen fresh bamboo in a grocery, Asian or otherwise. Please let us know how this works out!

[Jenise]

I don't think I've ever seen fresh bamboo in a grocery, Asian or otherwise. Please let us know how this works out!

Only fresh bamboo I've ever seen in the husk before are the shoots I prodigiously cut down almost daily in my own yard (yes, we grow bamboo in the Pacific Northwest).

Wow...Jenise. I have never seen fresh bamboo. I have only dealt with canned. I can't wait to hear how it turns out.

[Jenise]

Maria and Cynthia, well, I brought them to a boil three times as described by Charlaine Solomon's Encyclopaedia of Asian ingredients, and tasted one of the pieces. They have none of the slick texture I was expecting. They're neither like canned nor like the fresh bamboo we ate in China. They're a lot tenderer than I was led to expect by the book (which described some methods of cooking them whole for hours) even though they didn't feel at the outset like they could posssibly be that tough (think king oyster or porcini mushroom texture, cushion-y) so I didn't boil them again, so I didn't see a need to boil them a fourth time but if you don't hear from me again...well, three wasn't enough.

Oh gosh Jenise...you are a braver gal than I. Even with my foraging, I am still relunctant to deal with any item that might have poisionous components. I hope 3 boils was enough!

So, did you like the texture? What do you plan on doing with it? This is so fascinating! Can't wait to hear the results.

so I didn't see a need to boil them a fourth time but if you don't hear from me again...well, three wasn't enough.

LOL!

You are truly intrepid.

Looks exactly like what I used to do battle with every spring in my back yard. The lady who used to live next door to us loved bamboo and at one time, she had a backyard that you couldn't begin to see through, much less walk through. Of course, plenty got under the fence and I spent a lot of time exercising my swearing while trying to dig the damn stuff up. I thought about eating it a few times (thinking more along the lines of the ancient Aztecs who ate the hearts of their enemies than Asian cooking) but never actually tried it. The people who moved in after her eradicated it from their yard and our yard followed. No harvesting here, but I'll be interested in hearing how it turns out for you, Jenise.

but if you don't hear from me again...

Anybody hear from her after this post?

I have bed sheets made from bamboo. If I get really broke and hungry I'll boil and eat them. Thanks, Jenise.

rwj

[Jenise]

I have bed sheets made from bamboo. If I get really broke and hungry I'll boil and eat them. Thanks, Jenise.

rwj

That could be hard to explain to next sleepover.

Hey, here's a shot of the final results of my work yesterday, a bamboo salad (batonnettes of bamboo tossed with a light dressing of white vinegar, water, just a little oil and chongqing red pepper) with micro greens starter course where the main course was panko-crusted chicken in a lime and white tamari reduction sauce over stir-fried pea shoots with fresh baby ginger. Wine was an Oregon dry gewurztraminer.

DSC03372.JPG

Hey, here's a shot of the final results of my work yesterday

Lovely! And you are obviously still with us. But how did it taste?

Excellent presentation!

have you ever tried foraging for cat tail shoots? they are supposed to be similar. you use the young ones that may still be under water. i tried them once and remember them being pretty decent. might disagree with stuart somewhat. square peg on a round hole. within the square, lovely.

[Jenise]

Hey, here's a shot of the final results of my work yesterday

Lovely! And you are obviously still with us. But how did it taste?

Great. Once they cooled off, the texture and flavor was recognizably that of bamboo shoots, but the tenderest, sweetest bamboo possible. The serving you see in the picture is about 25% of the total provided by the six shoots I bought.

[Jenise]

have you ever tried foraging for cat tail shoots? they are supposed to be similar. you use the young ones that may still be under water. i tried them once and remember them being pretty decent. might disagree with stuart somewhat. square peg on a round hole. within the square, lovely.

No! Cattails grow all over the place around here, but unfortunately most of the accessible ones share their roadside ditches with dog-do and the like. Might be concerned about harvesting those!

have you ever tried foraging for cat tail shoots?

We used to do that when I was growing up in Upstate New York. My dad was big on that sort of thing. I haven't thought of that in years.

Jenise, I'll have to keep an eye out for the fresh bamboo. I am absolutely intrigued now!

...unfortunately most of the accessible ones share their roadside ditches with dog-do and the like. Might be concerned about harvesting those!

Much of our produce shares their field with various animal/migrant worker-doo and the like. Just wash the stuff real good, Jenise, and you will be fine.

By the way, my sheets were the tenderest, sweetest sheets you could imagine. Unfortunately I have a king-size bed so I have TONS of leftovers; any ideas? The bonus is that most of my "sleepovers" occur on the various floors in my place so the missing sheets are hardly a problem.
rwj

[Jenise]

Unfortunately I have a king-size bed so I have TONS of leftovers; any ideas?

Bakhlava?

Hey, here's a shot of the final results of my work yesterday, a bamboo salad (batonnettes of bamboo tossed with a light dressing of white vinegar, water, just a little oil and chongqing red pepper) with micro greens starter course where the main course was panko-crusted chicken in a lime and white tamari reduction sauce over stir-fried pea shoots with fresh baby ginger. Wine was an Oregon dry gewurztraminer.

Great pic and very nice menu. Hey I have a bamboo story for you. Not one you can eat but bamboo oriented.

Was in the PI for a period. Had a house and a fenced yard. The fence was made of timber bamboo. The gate and fence near the gate started to get the usual mold and rot associated with all the rain and damp weather so I asked the gardener to fix it. He did. He repaired the sections as appropriate. A week or so later I noticed the new fence portions were sprouting leaves. Seems he used fresh bamboo to repair the broken portions and since the soil there will grow ANYTHING the fence start growing again. Your bamboo meal reminded me...later.