Eating bamboo

The Cantonese eat bamboo shoots all year-round, from the fresh winter shoots to brined chunks to young fresh shoots cooked in a savory liqueur and served on a bed of shaved ice.

Bamboo shoots are finely diced and used in classic dumplings to add that tactile crunch and sweetness. It is also widely used in Cantonese dim sum, playing a crucial background role in everything from wantons to bean curd rolls.

My Cantonese grandmother's favorite bamboo recipe was braised preserved bamboo with pork belly in a fermented red bean curd sauce.

It is an old village classic.

The bamboo shoots resembled mummified pieces of an unknown object. It took days of repeated soaks and blanching in hot water to get rid of its strong stench of ammonia. By the end of four days, or maybe more, the bamboo shoots began to resemble their former selves.

They were then dropped into boiling water for an hour more and drained for a final soak in cold water.

Fatty pork belly is seared in a wok to render the fat and the bamboo shoots are added. Finally, a few pieces of fermented red bean curd are dissolved in Chinese liquor with sesame oil and added to the braising pot.