Bamboo Shoots
Bamboo shoots are cultivated in Asia which comes into two categories there are spring shoots and winter shoots respectively. Both of them are tasty items in Chinese cuisine. Spring shoots are chunky and pale while winter shoots are smaller. Before you cook, please keep in mind that you are not supposed to eat them in raw conditions, even for the canned shoots, never eat raw bamboo shoots as they contain a poisonous substance therefore you should peel and rinse them well before cooking.
Other names:
Chun sun (spring bamboo in China), Tung sun (winter bamboo in China).
Provide:
Fresh bamboo shoots are available almost year-round in Asian markets and you can find canned bamboo shoots in most supermarkets easily.
Purchasing tips:
We highly recommend you to avoid the soft, mouldy ones when purchasing instead you should choose the solid heavy ones which are short and often with a wide base.
How to prepare bamboo shoot before you cook？
1. Slit up the end of each shoot with a knife, then peel and discard the layers which wrapped the end, until you reach the pale parts, which is the edible core.
2. Cut off the base and pointed tip as needed, then cut or slice according to recipes.
3. Bring a large pot of salted water to boil, place the bamboo shoot slices into it and boil it uncover for around 20 minutes or until the bamboo is crunchy tender.
4. Drain well and ready to cook.
Storage:
For fresh bamboo shoots, you can just wrap it in newspaper and then refrigerate in this way it will last for up to 2 weeks. But for the canned ones, once it is opened, the unused bamboo shoots should be soaked in water and you are supposed to have the water changed daily while it should also stored in the refrigerator.
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