Instructions

To make this spicy, sour and slightly sweet sliced bamboo shoot pickle, you should choose a bamboo shoot which is fresh, firm and young so that its edible part is crunchy but tender. Usually, hard casing leaves of bamboo shoots sold at markets or supermarket have been removed but not to the extent acceptable for cooking yet. Therefore, you should peel off more hard leaves and slice off tough outside of the bottom part until you get the edible core of cream-white color.

1. Slicing the bamboo shoot

• Get a big bowl of water and mix it with 1 tablespoon of salt for soaking the bamboo shoot slices to remove its distinctive flavor.
• Slice the bamboo shoot into thin and small slices which are suitable for your bites. If the shoot is young and tender, it is easy to slice through.
• Soak the sliced bamboo shoot in salty water above for a minimum of 2 hours.

2. Blanching the bamboo shoot slices

• After soaking in salty water, wash the sliced bamboo shoot several times with water and let the water drain.
• Cook the sliced bamboo shoot briefly in boiling water. This is to further remove its distinctive flavor and to prevent mold from growing on the surface of pickling liquid.
• Transfer the blanched bamboo shoot to a basket for it to get completely cool and drained from water. It is very important that the bamboo shoot slices are completely drained from water so that mold will not develop on surface of your pickling liquid later.

3. Preparing garlic, chilies and lemongrass for pickling bamboo shoot slices

While waiting for the bamboo shoot slices to get drained from water, we will prepare the garlic, chilies, and lemongrass. Garlic and chilies used for this pickled bamboo shoot should be fresh, firm and free from bruises. They should also be free from water to prevent mold from developing.

• Peel off and slice each clove of garlic into 3 to 4 thin slices. If the cloves are small you can pickle whole cloves.
• Remove seeds and cut the chilies into thin, long slices. If you like you can use whole chili as well. The amount of chilies depends on your spicy taste.
• Chop the lemongrass stalks into thin and long slices too.

4. Preparing pickling liquid

• You should use drinking water to make pickling liquid for your sliced bamboo shoot pickle. The amount of water is enough to soak all the sliced bamboo shoot.
• Place the water into a pot or a sauce pan.
• Mix 1 tablespoon each of sugar, vinegar and salt into the water until completely dissolved. You can adjust the amount of sugar to suit your taste. This pickling liquid should taste a bit saltier than vegetable soup you usually eat.

5. Pickling bamboo shoot slices

• Use a completely clean and dry jar for pickling the sliced bamboo shoot to prevent mold from growing. This is very important so that you can reserve your sliced bamboo shoot pickle for a longer time.
• Place the sliced bamboo shoot into the jar, with a layer of sliced chilies, garlic and lemongrass in between every 2 layers of bamboo shoot.
• Pour the pickling liquid into the jar until all the bamboo shoot slices are covered by the liquid.
• Close the jar lid and put the jar in a cool and dry place.
• The sliced bamboo shoot pickle should be ready after around 4 days. At this time, the pickle should still maintain the crunchy and tender state of bamboo shoot and have spicy, sour and a bit sweet flavor. When the pickle is ready, you should put the jar into the fridge to reserve it longer.