Eating the children of my slain enemies
Jun. 30th, 2006 01:20 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
doodlemaierWhile out killing the 'boo a coupla weeks ago I was visited by Kim, some guy I've seen walking up and down the street in my neighborhood. He's Korean and doesn't speaka' much English but told me that if I didn't like it and was just going to cut the bamboo that I can collect the young tender shoots which grow back en masse, that he had a friend who owns a local chinese restaurant and pays top dollar for these things. Apparently they're a delicacy.
Like I said, I've seen Kim walking up and down the streets wearing the same red shirt each time (his walking shirt? - I have no idea) but how do I know this guy knows what he's talking about? Sure, I've eaten bamboo shoots out of a can before, in fact, I like 'em (alot!), but for all I know Kim could be just an asian version of the village idiots that are so prevailent around here. I told him that if he thinks they're worth money he's welcome to come by and harvest them whenever he likes (the ol' Tom Sawyer trick! heh heh . . .)
Now, curiosity has gotten the best of me. I love discovering wild edible plants, not that there's anything 'wild' about bamboo in Annadale, Viriginia (other than the rate at which it invades any given area) and last night seemed the perfect time to experiment in the kitchen a little, while H's asleep and I can avoid some derision for eating things I find growing in the backyard - so I did.
And, to be honest, it wasn't bad!
I steamed them, per Kim's suggestion, for about 20 minutes - They smell like corn cooking. The flavor is very delicate, like mostly nothing, although the greener shoots had more of a slightly bitter taste but not bad, at all. Shoots with shorter, more compact segments are the best (probably the delicacy) most striking was the very uncommon texture - not crunchy like I expected, but tender somewhat like shrimp - yeah, shrimp! Dirt shrimp! It even kinda looked like shrimp. The extremely limited recipes that I've found so far say that bamboo takes on the flavors of whatever it's cooked with. Suggestions are welcome, although my fish bone is craving fish!
The best part about it is the fact that I didn't wake up in the middle of the night with my head swollen like a melon, covered in hives, and puking blood!
Like I said, I've seen Kim walking up and down the streets wearing the same red shirt each time (his walking shirt? - I have no idea) but how do I know this guy knows what he's talking about? Sure, I've eaten bamboo shoots out of a can before, in fact, I like 'em (alot!), but for all I know Kim could be just an asian version of the village idiots that are so prevailent around here. I told him that if he thinks they're worth money he's welcome to come by and harvest them whenever he likes (the ol' Tom Sawyer trick! heh heh . . .)
Now, curiosity has gotten the best of me. I love discovering wild edible plants, not that there's anything 'wild' about bamboo in Annadale, Viriginia (other than the rate at which it invades any given area) and last night seemed the perfect time to experiment in the kitchen a little, while H's asleep and I can avoid some derision for eating things I find growing in the backyard - so I did.
And, to be honest, it wasn't bad!
I steamed them, per Kim's suggestion, for about 20 minutes - They smell like corn cooking. The flavor is very delicate, like mostly nothing, although the greener shoots had more of a slightly bitter taste but not bad, at all. Shoots with shorter, more compact segments are the best (probably the delicacy) most striking was the very uncommon texture - not crunchy like I expected, but tender somewhat like shrimp - yeah, shrimp! Dirt shrimp! It even kinda looked like shrimp. The extremely limited recipes that I've found so far say that bamboo takes on the flavors of whatever it's cooked with. Suggestions are welcome, although my fish bone is craving fish!
The best part about it is the fact that I didn't wake up in the middle of the night with my head swollen like a melon, covered in hives, and puking blood!
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no subject
Date: 2006-06-30 09:13 pm (UTC)yeh, munch on those daddies!
theyll treat you right.
stir-fry, anyone?
fish can work with it, too- if youve got the spices.
oh, yeh- and coconut milk.
!
Coconut milk?
Date: 2006-07-01 01:07 am (UTC)I keep thinking virginia-centric, and this is AMERICA!
no subject
Date: 2006-07-02 05:47 pm (UTC);)
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Date: 2006-07-02 02:54 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-07-02 05:47 pm (UTC)damn hiipppiies!
theyre just jealous they didnt think of it first.
:p
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Date: 2006-07-06 04:47 pm (UTC)Truth be known, they're not really hippies, they just fashion themselves that way so that no one will suspect that they're really just a couple of loser potheads!