This supplement is additional information to the following article as seen in Issue Six:

Clumping Bamboo – The Choice Is Yours (pp. 62-65)
...for more information on edible bamboo preparation.
by Yve Beard MAIH, Horticulturist – Brisbane

Edible Bamboo
It is recommended to wait at least two to three years before harvesting your bamboo shoots. It really depends on how quickly your bamboo has grown. Young bamboo shoots are quite soft so are very easy to harvest.

Harvest by cutting with a large sharp knife or you can use your foot to push them over. Most bamboo shoots have a slight bitterness so pre cooking is recommended before adding to a stir-fry or curry. The pre cooking will leach out most of the bitterness. It all depends on your taste buds. Bamboo shoots can be dried to extend their use throughout the year.

Pre Cooking
Firstly cut your young bamboo shoot in half and peel back the protective culm leaf. Remove it from the shoot and you will now see the white flesh.

If you have harvested small shoots then these can be boiled whole but most of the time they need to be cut into 20mm square segments.

• Add the segments to a large amount of fresh water that has been salted. Add 1 teaspoon of salt for every 2.5 litres of water.
• Depending on your taste buds and the astringency of the bamboo, boil between two and fifteen minutes.
• If the shoots are still too astringent for your taste buds, then reboil a second time for the same time period.
• Adding a small amount of rice to the bamboo while cooking will also help with leaching out the bitterness from the bamboo. Left over rice water can be used instead.
  

To use for cooking
Slice bamboo thinly to add into any stirfries. They are best added along with the vegetables. Bamboo shoots will not need a lot of extra cooking.

Dried Shoots
Drying shoots is a great way to have shoots for cooking indefinitely.

• Prepare shoots by removing the protective culm leaf.
• Scrape the white flesh with a course grater to produce strips. These ould be about 6 – 7 mm long and about 3mm thick.
• Lay them in the sun until thoroughly dry.
• Store them in a sealed container or jar until needed.
• To use them, simply soak for 12 hours. They can be used in cooking as you would use Thai or Chinese noodles.According to references, dried bamboo shoots can be used as a substitute for spaghetti. This, I have not tried.

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