Spicy Soy-Braised Bamboo Shoots and Fried Tofu

Takenoko to Atsu Age no Arima Ni

For this recipe, I went to my local Chinese market to buy fresh bamboo shoots. Here's a fresh bamboo shoot:

Like artichokes, bamboo shoots have an inedible fibrous exterior, which must be removed.

Raw bamboo shoots also contain toxic hydrocyanic acid (or prussic acid). Boiling the bamboo shoots eliminates the toxin. I don't know whether the heat denatures the hydrocyanic acid or whether the acid goes into solution and is removed when the bamboo shoots are drained. I do know that raw bamboo shoots are very bitter; I assume the bitterness is due to the hydrocyanic acid.

I simmered the bamboo shoots in water about 45 minutes and then peeled back the outer layers. Unfortunately, the interior still tasted bitter to me, so I simmered the bamboo shoots a second time.


After trimming the simmered bamboo shoots, here's what I got.

I used the tender vestigial leaves at the tip for Fresh Bamboo shoots and Rice - Takenoko Gohan.

I cut the conical portion into wedge-shaped combs for the braised bamboo shoots with tofu.

The spiciness in this recipe comes from sansho, sometimes called a type of pepper, but it's really the berry from the prickly ash plant. Sansho is lemony, but also has a tongue-numbing quality to it.

Elizabeth's recipe calls for whole sansho berries, which I wasn't able to find in my Japanese market - although I could find the powdered sansho. I substituted Szechuan peppercorns, which are related to sansho, but I believe they're a different botanical variety.

For several years, Szechuan peppercorns were illegal to import into the U.S. because of concerns they could harbor citrus canker. A few years ago, the U.S. decided to allow heat-treated Szechuan peppercorns into the country.

Packages of Szechuan peppercorns contain both the black seed and the husks. In Chinese cooking, the husks are considered the desirable part, and the seeds are often discarded. With sansho, the seed is considered the desirable part of the spice, and the husk is discarded. Szechuan peppercorns have a citrus overtone, but I don't think they taste as lemony as sansho.

For this recipe, I fried fresh extra firm tofu instead of using imported packaged fried tofu. I braised the bamboo shoots and tofu with soy, kombu dashi (kelp stock), and Szechuan peppercorns.

In the finished dish, I think the Szechuan peppercorns add a nice contrasting brightness to the umami-rich soy/dashi flavors. The crunch of the bamboo shoots is also a nice textural contrast to the satisfyingly chewy fried tofu.

I liked the recipe, but preparing the fresh bamboo shoots takes some time. I'd like to try this recipe with the boiled bamboo shoots packed in plastic bags with water. I'm sure the prepared bamboo shoots don't have the delicacy of the fresh bamboo shoots, but I'm not sure the difference would be very apparent after braising them with soy and sansho.