Young Bamboo

At the base of Yen Tu and along the trail to the Dong Pagoda (1068m), the chief commodity for sale is young bamboo, plucked fresh from the forest, trimmed and bundled in string. Vaguely resembling asparagus with thick woody white stems rising to finer green or purple tips, this local specialty is peddled with vigour by members of this community. Grubby little urchins appear from the undergrowth with string sacks of it, feisty young women in blue workers shirts stand their ground on price with equally astute Hanoian hagglers. 

In the car park at 5pm, as pilgrims drag their weary limbs into vehicles, the bamboo pushers persist. Escaping the site minus a bunch would be miraculous. Being foreign, I manage it.

What would I do with it in the kitchen anyway?

Comments

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[anh]

Bun vit with mang (bamboo shoot) comes to mind or any other stewed dishes would work equally well... =) I've also heard of nom mang (bamboo salad) but have not tried it personally. Your cook at home should be able to whip out these dishes without a hitch =) Fresh bamboo shoots are such a treat. Where we live we only get the dried or pickled kind.

[Mike Czyzewski]

I don't know if you have access to this book but Shunju by Sugimoto and Iwatate has 4-5 recipes dedicated to young bamboo shoots. Grilled with soy sauce, bamboo shoot rice, deep fried bamboo shoots with bonito etc. Good luck!

[addiechang]

hi, my ist time visit your blog, very interesting, will spend more time to read.

[iFoods.tv]

i loved your blog it really is so well made with lots of thought and very interesting as well! I just started a video recipe site that shows you step by step how to make stuff, www.ifoods.tv and i also started out as a blogger so it's great seeing other bloggers doing well, keep up the good work"

[stickyfingers]

Crikey! Spam & Bamboo shoots?

[edamame]

There is the young bamboo which is called "nemagaritake" in Japan. It of the edible wild plant it is thought, and look just like the young bamboo of this photograph sort of. When I bake it and eat, I am delicious.I am interested in the food culture of your country. And I support your site. If there is time, please come in my site. From Japan
http://food-soybean.blogspot.com/

[meemalee]

Sticky, where are you?

We miss you.

ps classy spam. most people get stuff about viagra.

[FoodyMom]

Beautiful site. I love Vietnamese food and your pictures are gorgeous! I linked to your site. Thanks!

[Vlad]

hello i'm from Romania, Bucharest city, and i see your blog storry on national geographic

[Viet]

I also saw your blog featured on US public TV today. it talked about food blogging on the web... there were chez pim, david lebovit in the documentary...

I think those bamboo shoots are wild bamboo, or different type of bamboo, the type of bamboo that are grown in the backyard (in the south)tend to be bigger and stockier,

[beryl]

Mmm! I have some bamboo growing in my garden in the UK. I would be curious to know whether it is edible. Never thought about cooking it in any way and any way wonder what the nutrion might be?
Beryl

[d.]

Are you still living in Hanoi? It has been a while since your last post and I miss your write ups about places in Hanoi that I am not brave enough to try.

[Jeff Richardson]

Fresh bamboo sprouts ... YUMMMMMM really delicious.
You passed up a wonderful food opp, just peel the brown outer layers off steamed, dip it in ground up sesame, peanut and salt mix with a touch of dried ground chilli. I can't handle that putrid smelling pickled bamboo in the market but fresh, it's the best.

[claire]

Hi Mark

I'm at home having a flu and decided to switch on the Natgeo channel...and it had the Food Lovers Guide to the Planet on ...what a fantastic show. I love this program and eventhough it's a rather short bit on each blog, your sticky rice blog was registered in my brain instantly. It's similar to Malaysia..pouring rain and hot steaming soup..love the in your face pictures...e.g. Bambi...with it's tongue sticking out too.. Now...back to your blog which I'm looking at now, great stuff in it Mark. Love it.

[Jing-reed]

Young bamboo shoots are also extensively used here in Northern Thailand. Any Thai cook book will have a number of delicious recipes.

Found your blog, beautiful layout and writing, as a result of seeing the NatGeo program. Tried for a week to access it, but the Great Firewall of China was blocking it, and all TypePad accounts, here in Thailand [!] until I discovered a work around solution of using a proxy server.

[Steven Goh]

Nice bamboo shoot. There are few ways to cook bamboo shoot. I have tried Thai style, Indian style and Chinese style. The best I still prefer Chinese delicacy bamboo shoot cooked with chili. It is so nice that I still remember the taste now.

[Graham]

You gone to sleep over there or wot?

[susie lee]

Hi my name is susie and I'm full blooded korean I love the fact that two australia guys r actually into asian food.I have a friend who is absolutly in love with phu every chance we get we go eat phu.we have actually traveled 2hr to try new kinds of phu and only recently did I learn how to pronounce right but I love it.which is why when you guys were featured on diary of a foodie and you were talking about phu I freaked because you guys actualy new what it was and talked about it keep up the great work and write me back soon!love you guys

[Ian]

My Vietnam holiday proved to be very similar. I have been to Vietnam on several occasions actually and have always found the people to be kind, genuine and affectionate, but what the hell do they do with so much young bamboo?? Do they actually eat it?

[Sticky]

I'm coming back soon - promise!!!!! Have a treasure trove of notes and posts and pics! Been a busy year and a five week hol in Greece just concluded, damn it!!!

MORE STICKY FOOD STORIES SOON!

[Libby]

Bamboo shoots are used a lot in Chinese cuisine. Vietnamese culture is rather similar to Chinese culture because the Vietnamese are descended from the Chinese; I'm sure you've heard about the Trung sisters. In Chinese cuisine, bamboo shoots are used to add crunch to dishes. They cut them into rounds and boil them before adding them in. The edible kind is the stoutish one;the thin ones are only ornamental.

[peach]

Not to sound insensitive but did this guy die or something?

[Hanoi Mark]

What happened to Sticky Rice? I miss it!