A family affair

My family loves labong/ubod sa kawayan (bamboo shoot), but no one was impressed with the kind I bought at Rustan’s a while back. The parents complained it did not taste right. The help observed it may have come from a particularly bitter cultivar. More’s the pity since it was the most pristine specimen I had ever laid eyes on, Close-Up-white and julienned to uniform perfection.

Still, unless it’s to complain about bitterness, taste is not something usually ascribed to bamboo shoot. It is really more of a textural thing. Most people have likely never seen bamboo shoot in its original state and will probably only recognize it once it has been sliced into its familiar shape — and boiled to stop it from going to mush (bamboo shoot does that pretty quickly once harvested); also to temper the bitterness (if ever) which is not the sort one would call appealing, as with paliya. Some cooks boil it again as a matter of course. No problem: it can take the abuse. Inside or out, bamboo is a hardy grass. In fact, I have yet to boil or generally cook bamboo shoot any softer that when I bought it.

The help was right, too. Some bamboo are more bitter than others. That’s according to another of our employees, a self-styled bamboo connoisseur. He identifies three local varieties: kajali, kagingking, and botong (not to be confused with young coconut). According to him, kajali is bitterest while botong is the most mellow and preferred by those in the know. So how do the uninitiated tell if labong is bitter? We ask for a sample.

Another interesting trivia about bamboo is that it is said to sprout shoots most profusely during the habagat (monsoon season). If true, there must be something in the southwest trade winds that spurs its growth (even as it also keeps fishermen away from the turbulent sea). I personally know a guy who only makes pickled bamboo shoot during that time frame — need I add it’s really good?

By the way, the dish pictured here was not made from the bamboo shoot in the second photo, which was from July of last year (although boiled shoots keep amazingly well in the refrigerator, I have never tried storing some for that long, nor should you). But just as good, pale yellow and not at all bitter. The dish was a riff on chaosansi, but with hoisin sauce and leftover chicken gizzard adobo. It’s a variation worth revisiting, if with less sugar next time.

And more heat. Somehow chaosansi without bite feels… off. As in not right. In that regard the rest of my family disagree. The help, too. Hey, who cooks around here, anyway?