Sapa bamboo shoots – Bringing simple specialties of the Northwest mountains to the tables of lowland people

1 A few words about bamboo shoots – a simple specialty in foggy Sapa all year round

Not only a specialty of Sapa town, bamboo shoots are also a ‘child’ of the entire vast Northwest region and often only sprout after the first spring rains of the season. At this time, ethnic minorities living in Sapa will often go together in small groups to the mountains to dig bamboo shoots to eat, store in warehouses or sell at markets.

Unlike sour bamboo shoots, which have a characteristic sour taste, bamboo shoots have a sweet taste, with a bit of bitterness, and usually, the older the shoots are, the more bitter the taste will be compared to young shoots. Usually, the bamboo shoots are inherently bitter. These are young bamboo roots that have just sprouted, about 20 to 30cm long. The special feature of bamboo shoots is that the sweetness only exists when the bamboo shoots are still in the ground. In addition, if separated from the soil, the bamboo shoots will be even more bitter.

2The special story hidden behind Sapa bamboo shoots

There seems to be no connection between bamboo shoots and the love anecdotes of ethnic people, but bamboo shoots are there, my friend. The Sapa bamboo shoots are associated with the love story of Khom, meaning ‘bitter’ in the Thai language – an ethnic minority boy living in a poor family in the wild mountains.

Although his family situation was somewhat difficult, Khom worked very hard in the fields and in hunting wild animals. He has a talent for playing the trumpet very well, and it is the melodious sound of the trumpet that resonates throughout the Northwest mountains and forests that has made so many native girls’ hearts sob. One day, the sound of his flute made Ban – the most beautiful girl in the area – fall in love, and she gave him the Pieu scarf – a token of love for highland girls – on a date. In the spring, we will share a fire together.

However, the land lord’s determination to take Ban as a servant forced Khom to lead her away into the deep forest and was continuously hunted. Hungry and tired to the point of exhaustion, the two collapsed next to each other and the land of their homeland embraced them both. More specifically, right on Ban’s grave, a tree grew with leaves shaped like a matching heart.

And then every spring, the leaves have fallen, giving way to white five-petaled flowers with a sweet scent that bloom brilliantly. Meanwhile, at Khom’s grave, a tree sprouted. On spring days, the trees push up the soil and sprout shoots of bamboo shoots that taste bitter like the desperate love of a young man and woman in the village.

Later, every time they went to harvest bamboo shoots, the adults in the village often told their children about a deep love that had an incomplete ending, like a reminder to the boys and girls in the village to learn to appreciate and love each other more.

3What is special about the bamboo shoot harvesting work of people in the Northwest mountains?

The reason why Sapa bamboo shoots are said to be a rare product is because the best and freshest bamboo shoots only grow in the bushes or deep in the jungle and high mountains. If people want to dig bamboo shoots, they have to observe. Look carefully to see if there are any cracks in the ground. Usually, during each trip to dig bamboo shoots, people have to carry with them a spade, a basket, dry food and drinking water to begin the journey into the deep forests.

Bamboo shoot harvesting by ethnic people in the Northwest mountains usually begins in the early days of March and is divided into three stages. In which, the first stage is that they have to look for bamboo shoots in the cracks in the soil that have just been pushed up a bit and often these mounds of soil appear around the roots of the vat trees. This is the most difficult and strenuous stage when they are forced to observe carefully, requiring the bamboo diggers to be those with the most experience gained from trips to the forest. More specifically, bamboo shoots dug from underground have the best flavor and sell for a very good price, so many people still try in the hope of making more money for their lives.

Going to the second stage, if at this time they cannot find young bamboo shoots lying in the ground, people will start looking for bamboo shoots that have grown out of the ground. Usually, they only choose bamboo shoots with an approximate length of 20 to 30cm because during this time, the bamboo shoots still retain their deliciousness and freshness.

In the final stage of digging bamboo shoots, people will harvest the bamboo shoots that have grown higher than their knees. However, these bamboo shoots are usually not of high quality because they are old and exposed to a lot of wind and dew. Eating them will taste bitter and not as delicious as the other two types of young bamboo shoots. However, highland ethnic minorities will still pick these bamboo shoots to process into family dishes.

4You probably don’t know about the wonderful uses of Sapa bamboo shoots

As a benign plant that can grow anywhere, bamboo shoots also bring great benefits such as helping to lose weight safely, minimizing the amount of bad cholesterol in the body, preventing and Prevents cancer, provides excellent support and improves cardiovascular problems, strengthens the immune system, cures stomach problems, prevents and fights infections, and is antibacterial and anti-inflammatory. Treat respiratory problems as well.

5 Delicious dishes prepared with bamboo shoots on the dining table of highland ethnic people

There are many ways to prepare bamboo shoots such as grilling it directly on a charcoal stove then dipping it with salt and chili, or stir-frying it with chicken intestines, pork, beef or even shrimp. All of these dishes have simple, rustic flavors but are very delicious.

In addition, for the bamboo shoots harvested in the second phase as mentioned above, people often peel them, wash them, then cut them into small slices and ferment them in jars for 20 to 10 minutes. 30 days. This is also how to make sour bamboo shoots – a specialty of the Northwest mountains.

As for the bamboo shoots that grow higher than the knee, people often boil them and then dip them in a batch of dipping sauce. Or more elaborately, you can cook bamboo shoots with stream fish to get a bowl of sour fish soup cooked with bamboo shoots, very delicious and rich in village flavor.

Vietnamtravelio reveals to you that there is another famous specialty in Sapa that is made from bamboo shoots and is very popular with everyone, which is spring rolls wrapped from the green bamboo shoots. Nem bamboo shoots with a bitter taste lingering on the tip of the tongue, combined with the sweet and rich taste of meat and spices is truly a very special flavor and stimulates the taste buds.

It is not wrong to say that bamboo shoots are a precious but very simple gift from the Northwest highlands for friends in the lowlands. If you have the opportunity to come to Sapa during the bamboo shoot season, don’t miss the opportunity to taste this specialty.