China is one of the countries that produce the most bamboo in the world, with more than 200 species distributed all over the country, but the main excellent bamboo species used for bamboo shoots are Phyllostachys praecox, Phyllostachys pubescens, Dendrocalamus latiflorus and Phyllostachys pubescens.
Dried bamboo shoots are refined from bamboo shoots through root cutting, shelling and trimming, high-temperature cooking, soaking and bleaching in clear water, manual slicing or extrusion molding, natural drying or drying, plastic packaging and other processes. The finished dried bamboo shoots are Huang Liang in color, tender in meat and rich in trace elements such as protein, cellulose and amino acids. The characteristics of low fat, low sugar and more dietary fiber are helpful for eating and appetizing. It can stimulate appetite, prevent constipation, cool and detoxify, and is a kind of pure natural health food welcomed by consumers.
Bamboo forest is deep and rich in negative ions, which is the oxygen bar of nature. Being in it is like a lifetime ago.
Hakka areas in Fujian, Guangdong and Jiangxi are the main producing areas of dried bamboo shoots in China, which mainly produce high-quality dried bamboo shoots, and most of them are handmade by farmers. Due to proper protection of natural environment, beautiful ecology and no industrial pollution, it is a rare mountain treasure. Most Hakka dried bamboo shoots are made of bamboo shoots, and a few are made of winter bamboo shoots. However, due to small size, scarce quantity and high price, winter bamboo shoots rarely appear in the market.
Today, we will go to see how Hakka dried bamboo shoots are "tempered".
Look for bamboo shoots and dig them.
After a spring rain, hardworking Hakka villagers will dig up bamboo shoots before they are unearthed or just sprouted. Otherwise, once the spring bamboo shoots grow tall, they will fiberize into bamboo and lose their edible value. Spring bamboo shoots generally grow in deep soil, so it is difficult for ordinary people to see them without coming out of the ground. The villagers have their own experience to judge whether there are bamboo shoots underground. Male bamboo will not have bamboo shoots, or the number is very small. They usually tell the sex of Phyllostachys pubescens by bamboo branches. In their eyes, the bamboo fork at the bottom of the bamboo is two female bamboos and one male bamboo. After the male and female are separated, they analyze whether there are bamboo shoots from the color of bamboo branches and leaves. Adult mother bamboo shoots, the color of bamboo branches in this period is often dark green, while the bamboo branches born in that year are relatively light and bright, which are yellow-green. The colors of bamboo leaves and bamboo shoots are also different. Bamboo shoots are often malnourished and yellow because of the need to strengthen nutrition. After finding the target bamboo, they will determine where the bamboo shoots grow according to the direction of the bamboo tail and the direction of the bamboo root. Sometimes there is a simpler way, which is to look at the underground soil. Where bamboo shoots grow, they will break through the ground. Of course, this method is very accurate in finding bamboo shoots, but it is not very common because the broken place is not obvious enough and the ground is often covered with a thick layer of bamboo leaves. After finding suitable bamboo shoots, they dug around with special hoes. Generally, bamboo shoots are about a foot underground. When the roots of bamboo shoots are dug, they will directly aim at the roots and cut them off.
A spring thunder woke up the bamboo shoots. They broke through the ground, overturned stones and emerged from the ground one by one.
They face the spring breeze, laugh in the sun and grow up in the spring rain. Part, part, part. Up, up, up again.
Cooking and drying
After the raw bamboo shoots are dug back, they will first peel off the outer layers of bamboo shells, then trim the roots and remove the fibrous roots, then cut the bamboo shoots in half and throw them into the pot for cooking. Boil for about 30 minutes, take it out, squeeze out excess water with special tools, and set it. If you want to make dried bamboo shoots look whiter, you can rinse them with water before squeezing them. After squeezing for one night, take it out the next day and spread it directly on "A" (a bamboo farm tool used by Hakkas to dry crops) to welcome the sunshine. At night, the sun goes down, and then they are taken back to the house. After four or five days of continuous drying, the moisture of bamboo shoots is basically gone and can be preserved for a long time. If it is rainy, you can also put the dried bamboo shoots into a special curing barn for curing. The specific method is to hang dried bamboo shoots on the grill and put a charcoal fire under it for one or two nights, which can also achieve the same goal, but there is no special curing barn in ordinary families and the cost of charcoal is not low.
Ancient squeezing tools scraped off excess water, leaving only the essence in the world.
After such a series of seemingly simple but complicated steps, beautiful Hakka dried bamboo shoots are freshly baked, waiting for you to eat.