preparation time: 30 minutes
cooking time: 30 minutes
emergency contact: carol
origin: shanghai
Winter bamboo shoots can be found in most Asian markets during — you guessed it — the winter months. They take a bit of work to peel, but their fresh, delicate flavour cannot be duplicated by using other types of bamboo (especially not the horrible, soggy tinned stuff). Chop the stalk off to leave the “head”, then tear off the outer leaves. You should have some oblong brown lumps as pictured above. Using a paring knife, scrape away the inner leaves to leave a white nubbin. Now you’re ready to go.
bean curd noodles – 1 package (225 g)
winter bamboo shoot – 1
Chinese ham (substitute prosciutto) – 1 clementine-sized chunk
chicken stock
Peel the winter bamboo shoot. Slice the bamboo shoot and a small piece of ham into very thin slivers. Blanch the bamboo in boiling water and drain. In the traditional version of this dish, the trio is completed with chicken slivers, but these aren’t typically used in the Leacock version. Soak the bean curd noodles in hot water with a teaspoon of baking soda for 5 minutes. Drain, rinse with cold water, and drain again.
Assemble your ingredients. Make a bed of the bean curd noodles in a shallow baking dish. Lay the bamboo over the bean curd noodles, then cover with ham. Drizzle some oil and a bit of soy sauce overtop of everything. then pour in enough chicken stock to come halfway up the bed of bean curd noodles.
Cover with foil and poke some holes in the foil with a fork. Steam for 30 minutes until the bean curd is tender but the bamboo shoots still have some crunch.
