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09/09/2007: "Miso Dressed Bamboo Shoots"

About two weeks ago, Aileen surprised me with a nice supply of fresh bamboo shoots! I have never worked with fresh bamboo before and was quite excited. Even before Aileen surprised me with this, I had been thinking about trying out some recipes with bamboo anyhow. Here is one of the recipes I decided to try.

Not yet ready for consumption...
Click for recipe and more pictures.

Miso-Dressed Bamboo Shoots

1 Package Soft Tofu
2 T White Miso
3 T Roasted Sesame Seeds
6 T Sugar
6 T Soy Sauce
1 T Mirin
2 C Freshly prepared bamboo shoots, sliced
5 Snow peas, blanched and julienned on the diagonal
Salt, as desired for taste

1. Cool tofu in many changes of cold water (lukewarm water bruises tofu). – Okay I didn’t do this step, as you should know, I am not very patient.
2. When cool, wrap in cloth. Cover with rolling mat. Weigh down until half size. – Didn’t do this neither.
3. Grind roasted sesame seeds in a grinding mortar, add miso and grind until blended.
4. Press tofu through a strainer into a grinding mortar, grind until smooth. Then add soy sauce, mirin and salt to taste.
5. Mix in bamboo shoots and snow peas. Voila, ready to eat!


Close-up shot of bamboo...


So apparantely, fresh bamboo takes quite a bit of work before it can be prepared. Aileen soaked it in salt water for 4 days, and she changed the water every day. I then boiled it in salted water for 20 minutes before I used it for any recipes.


Roasted sesame seeds...


I don't have a mortar, but I did have a sturdy wooden rolling pin on hand.


Grinding sesame seeds are not easy...


Yes, here comes the miso...


Looks quite chunky huh?...


And as you can see, I didn't prepare the tofu as asked. It looks like cottage cheese huh?


All blended together...


I thought the snow peas looked good as a garnish, so I kept it on top.


Yum, up close...


And here is a piece of the finished product.
So the recipe came out pretty well, if you enjoy miso and tofu...then you will enjoy this. I wasn't a big fan of it, but Aileen certainly was! In fact, most of the bamboo shoots I used to make recipes went right back to her...she is the rightful owner of course! I did also make a great miso braised chicken with the bamboo shoots which I will share tomorrow.