Fenghua Oil Braised Bamboo Shoots (a specialty of Fenghua, Zhejiang)

Introduction to Fenghua Oil Braised Bamboo Shoots

Oil braised bamboo shoots are a "unique skill" of Jiangnan people. Its subtlety lies in the grasp of tenderness, which is neither the crisper the better nor the softer the better. It needs to be slightly crispy, but without fiber, and can be easily bitten off with just one bite of its teeth, without being too soft and collapsed. When bitten, you can still feel the crisp and refreshing feeling of a giant panda eating bamboo shoots

Where there are bamboo shoots, there are oil braised bamboo shoots, but only Fenghua oil braised bamboo shoots can be called the "pinnacle" of oil braised bamboo shoots. As the hometown of Thunder Bamboo Shoots in China, Fenghua has a history of planting Thunder Bamboo Shoots for nearly a hundred years. Every spring, the lush green bamboo trees sway gracefully on the mountains and fields, even surpassing the popularity of peach blossoms and cherry blossoms due to the fresh and tender Thunder Bamboo Shoots hidden underground

Fenghua is located at the junction of the Tiantai Mountain Range and the Siming Mountain Range, with many high and steep mountains. Here, the four seasons are distinct, with ample sunshine and rainfall, and a delicious ingredient called bamboo shoots grows in the mountains and forests. I don't mind pairing this ingredient with any other ingredients, whether it's meat or plain water. Fenghua is known as the hometown of thunder and bamboo shoots in China. With the sound of spring thunder and the arrival of spring rain, the bamboo shoot season has arrived. Especially in Tangyun Village, every March, every household goes up the mountain to dig thunder bamboo shoots and grill them in oil

Thunder bamboo shoots are generally selected with a base diameter of about 4 centimeters and a length of about 30 centimeters. They have a straight and complete shape, a thin and smooth shell, a bright color, a yellow outer shell with spots, tender yellow shoots, and tender white flesh, which are considered to be of high quality. Fresh bamboo shoots can be cooked with meat, stir fried with snow vegetables, or stewed with pork ribs, chicken, and duck in soup. To preserve, it can be sun dried into bamboo shoots or made into dried plum shoots with vegetables. The freshness of bamboo shoots is fleeting. In my opinion, among all the methods of preserving bamboo shoots, oil braised bamboo shoots are definitely the simplest and most advanced. Through simple cooking, they lock in the deliciousness and tender texture of bamboo shoots

Thunder shoots must be harvested and processed on the same day. People have to go up the mountain around 5am to pick the best and freshest lightning shoots. After digging enough lightning shoots and bringing them home, the whole family began to clean and process them by the nearby stream. Remove the bamboo shoots and the older parts of the roots, cut them open and cut them into sections of about 5 centimeters. Then blanch the bamboo shoots with mountain stream water, take them out, wash and drain the water. Fresh ingredients, no need for excessive seasoning, just use cooking oil, sugar, and soy sauce. After baking for more than 8 hours, let it cool before bottling, and finally seal the bottle cap with high-temperature sterilization. The entire process does not involve complicated operations or any additives, and relying solely on high-temperature sterilization can ensure that the taste will not change for at least one year. The only thing that needs to be mastered is the heat. If the heat is too high, the bamboo shoots will age easily. If the heat is too low, the bamboo shoots will still have a slight astringency. The oil braised bamboo shoots made by Fenghua people can be easily bitten off without being soft, and you can feel the crisp and refreshing feeling when biting

The oil braised bamboo shoots made are crystal clear and shiny, with a thick sauce that fully envelops each bamboo shoot, while also emitting the aroma of firewood. Every bite is sweet, oily, and fragrant, with various flavors bursting forth at the touch. The most wonderful taste of oil braised bamboo shoots lies in their grasp of tenderness, crisp yet not aged, tender yet not rotten, without coarse fibers, and can be easily bitten off with just one bite