Dried bamboo shoots cooked with duck

My hometown is Bản Rùa, a small Tay ethnic village in Hòa Phú commune, Chiêm Hóa district, Tuyên Quang province.

In my village, there are vast forests and mountains, especially bamboo forests. Since ancient times, the people of my village have used bamboo shoots as a common food because they can be prepared into many different dishes such as fish soup, stir-fried with garlic, stewed with bones, boiled and dipped in fermented rice paste or fish sauce...

Every year, when the rainy season arrives, my sisters and I go into the forest to pick bamboo shoots. Usually, we don't sell the bamboo shoots we pick, whether there are many or few; we eat some fresh and dry the rest. In my hometown, dried bamboo shoots are a specialty.

The bamboo shoots used to make dried shredded bamboo shoots are usually from the Mai bamboo species. The bamboo shoots, harvested from the forest, are boiled until cooked, with a little salt added to remove some of the bitterness. Additionally, my mother always leaves the pot lid open to remove any toxins from the bamboo shoots. After boiling for about 30 to 45 minutes, the bamboo shoots are removed and shredded into thin strands. This step is quite laborious and requires meticulous attention to detail because the thinner the strands, the faster they dry and the tastier they are.

Next, place the peeled bamboo shoots into a clean cloth bag or sack for pressing. This step is crucial and directly affects the quality of the bamboo shoots. The object placed on top of the bag must be heavy enough to squeeze the water out and create an anaerobic (oxygen-deficient) environment inside the bag.

The bamboo shoot pressing process can take up to two days, because if the pressing time is too short, the bamboo shoots won't have enough time to dry properly, and the color after drying won't be a beautiful golden yellow. Conversely, if the pressing time is too long, the bamboo shoots will become sour due to harmful microorganisms spoiling them.

After being pressed for the required time, the bamboo shoots are spread out on trays to dry in the sun. After one day of drying, they are gently rubbed by hand to make the bamboo shoots curl and look nicer. A batch of dried bamboo shoots requires about 2-3 days of sun drying. The dried bamboo shoots are stored in airtight plastic bags, avoiding direct sunlight, to prolong their shelf life.

Dried bamboo shoots can be used to prepare many different dishes, but one of my favorites is duck soup with dried bamboo shoots.

To make duck stew with dried bamboo shoots, the first step is to boil the duck. My mother's secret to boiling delicious duck is to add a little salt and Vietnamese coriander to the water. While the duck is boiling, the dried bamboo shoots are also boiled in a separate pot for about 10 minutes until soft, then removed and rinsed with cold water to maintain their crispness.

After boiling the duck, set aside the head, feet, and wings to cook with the bamboo shoots, while chop the body into bite-sized pieces. Add the blanched bamboo shoots to the duck broth, simmer for about 20-30 minutes, season to taste, then ladle into a bowl and sprinkle with Vietnamese coriander.

The dipping sauce for boiled duck in my village is also very special, including chili bamboo shoots, dổi seeds, salt, and MSG. The aroma of roasted dổi seeds, the spiciness of the chili, the sourness of the bamboo shoots, the saltiness of the salt, and the sweetness of the MSG create a unique dipping sauce found only in mountainous areas of Northern Vietnam like my hometown.

A meal of dried bamboo shoots and duck stew.

As for the duck and bamboo shoot soup, its flavor is hard to describe. The sweetness of the bamboo shoots blends with the duck broth to create a rich and flavorful soup. The bamboo shoots are slender, soft but not mushy, with just the right amount of chewiness and crispness, and a fragrant aroma reminiscent of the sun-drenched mountains. Especially in the late months of the year, when the monsoon winds arrive and the biting cold sets in, there's nothing better than a hot bowl of duck and bamboo shoot soup.

Source: https://nld.com.vn/diem-den-hap-dan/mang-roi-kho-nau-vit-20201210213809709.htm