Spicy Chili Pickled Bamboo Shoots Recipe

 

We have had a great year with the bamboo harvest of 2024, bringing it home by the backpack-full. It is the invasive (and technically banned in Connecticut) Phyllostachys aureosulcata, yellow groove bamboo. The shoots are very tender when they first emerge, covered with the papery sheath. Robert and Gillian just break them off at ground level to bring home for cleaning. Usually we cook and freeze the shoots, but this year we made some bamboo kimchi, pickled bamboo with garlic, bamboo stuffed with foragers sticky rice, bamboo and cucumber salad, and this spicy pickled bamboo. We also like to snack on it with a squeeze of lemon and some salt.

 

Spicy Chili Pickled Bamboo Shoots- makes enough brine for about 12 pints of prepared bamboo

140 g (5 oz.) water

140 g (5 oz.) white vinegar

90 g (5 Tbsp.) chili garlic paste

70 g (5 Tbsp.) cane sugar

25 g (5 tsp.) salt

10 g. or 2 cloves of fresh garlic, micro-planed or minced

Bamboo shoots

1. Prepare the bamboo: slice from bottom to top and peel off the outer, papery sheath. https://photos.app.goo.gl/pS4iNezhfSgJZnAR6 Add to a large pot with about 1 c. or a handful of plain white rice. Bring to a boil, then simmer for 25 minutes. Drain off the water and rice, you will need to shock the bamboo in cold water. Then swish it around and try to remove all of the remaining rice from the chambers. Pack the bamboo into sterilized jars.

2. Make the brine: Combine the water, vinegar, chili paste, sugar, alt, and garlic in a saucepot. Bring it up to a boil and make sure the sugar is dissolved. The pH should register at 3.3

3. Prepare a canning pot with rack and boiling water.

4. Pour the hot brine over the bamboo and use a sterilized chopstick or skewer to poke out the air bubbles. Leave about 1 cm headspace. Wipe the rims and screw on canning lids. Process in the boiling water for 12-15 minutes. Remove from pot and cool.

 

Upcoming Walks and Library Presentations

 

Lots more walks and presentations at libraries or nature centers for those interested! To keep up to date, sign up for our email list at the3foragers@gmail.com

April 25, 6:30 pm at the Stratford Library, 2203 Main St, Stratford CT. This FREE presentation will be about the Edible Wild Plants and Fungi of Spring: As the warmer temperatures and longer days of spring unfold, many tender, young edible shoots, plants, flowers, and even a few fungi awaken a forager’s senses and delight. Learn how to identify, sustainably harvest, and prepare the wild foods of spring, from invasive bamboo shoots to the lemony tang of fresh wood sorrel, including some of the early edible fungi of the season. Join The 3 Foragers as they discuss the edible plants and fungi of spring, with their original photos and recipe ideas featured in an educational slideshow. Please register at https://stratfordlibrary.libcal.com/event/11974910

May 4, 10:00 am, walk in Columbia, CT. Let’s walk the property in search of edible spring ephemerals, flowers, green shoots, invasive edible plants, and maybe even some early spring mushrooms! Cost is $20 per adult, children welcome, please no dogs. The walk will last about 2 hours.

The two hour class begins with an educational handout, a quick overview of safe and responsible foraging practices, and suggestions for resources. We will follow the trail and point out how to identify any edible plants we encounter, with suggestions for preparation and possible preservation. Sustainable harvesting practices will be discussed. The trail distance will be less than a mile with a few roots and a medium climb among the trees, along with an area of open grassland, so please wear appropriate footwear and tick repellant; a walking stick may be helpful. Plan on taking notes and plenty of photos! We will not be collecting on this walk, but using this outdoor space as a hands-on classroom.

Please register by sending the names of participants to the3foragers@gmail.com or call 860-639-9385

Class size will be limited and the details of the location and parking will be provided a day before the walk so we can keep an eye on the weather.

Early spring Swamp Beacons fungi

 

May 18, 1:00 pm, walk at the Pratt Nature Center, 163 Papermill Rd, New Milford, CT. As the warmer temperatures and longer days of spring unfold, many tender, young edible shoots, plants, flowers, and even a few fungi awaken a forager’s senses and delight. Learn how to identify, sustainably harvest, and prepare the wild foods of spring, from invasive bamboo shoots to the lemony tang of fresh wood sorrel, including some of the early edible fungi of the season. We will walk the property to find, identify, and taste some spring edible plants. Contact the Pratt Nature Center to register, space is limited, 860-355-3137. This is a free walk.

May 25, 1:00 pm, walk in Ellington, CT. Another spring walk to explore the shoots and edible flowers. We may examine plants that will produce edible parts in upcoming months as well, and can keep an eye out for early fungi. This will be a 2 hour walk with a handout for participants. Cost is $20 per adult, children welcome. Please register by sending the names of participants to the3foragers@gmail.com or call 860-639-9385

Class size will be limited and the details of the location and parking will be provided a day before the walk so we can keep an eye on the weather.

 

June 5, 6:00 pm, at the Booth & Dimock Memorial Library, 1134 Main St, Coventry, CT.  This FREE presentation will be about the Edible Wild Plants and Fungi of Summer: The summer months are a bounty of ripe berries, nectar-laden edible flowers, amazing edible plants along the seashore, and edible mushrooms that can carpet the forest floor after warm, rainy days. Learn how to identify, sustainably harvest, and prepare the wild foods of summer, from beach plums to invasive wineberries, including some of the choice summer fungi like chanterelles and the myriad of pored Boletes. Join The 3 Foragers as they teach the edible plants and fungi of summer with their original photos and recipe ideas featured in an educational slideshow. No registration required, just stop in!

June 8, 10:00 am, at the Stamford Museum and Nature Center, Knobloch Family Farmhouse, 151 Scofieldtown Rd, Stamford, CT. Mushroom Identification for Beginners. There are some amazing edible fungi in Connecticut, including Oysters, Chanterelles, and the well-known Chicken of the Woods. Join The Three Foragers as they share some of the secrets of the fungal world and teach you how to safely identify wild mushrooms using various available tools and techniques. You’ll learn how to use your senses to examine mushrooms by sight, smell and taste, and consider the relationships between fungi and the natural world around us. We will dispel common myths and discuss mycophagy, the cooking and eating of wild mushrooms. Please register directly with the Museum at https://25364.blackbaudhosting.com/25364/Mushroon-ID-wThe-Three-Foragers There is a fee for this program: $5.00 for members and $8.00 for non-members.

June 8, 1:00 pm at the Stamford Museum and Nature Center, Knobloch Family Farmhouse, 151 Scofieldtown Rd, Stamford, CT. Edible Plants and Fungi of Spring/Early Summer Walk. Discover some of the edible native plants, berries, and fungi that grow in our area during spring. Learn about plant identification, how to harvest, and even some recipes to prepare your finds. After discussing proper identification, The Three Foragers will lead participants on a hike to find some of these items growing in the wild. Please register directly with the Museum at https://25364.blackbaudhosting.com/25364/Spring-Foraging-Walk-wThe-Three-Foragers There is a fee for this program: $15.00 members and $20.00 non-members.

 

Ramps Recipe- Kanom Gui Chai Tod

 

It's that time of year when Facebook is flooded with photos of ramps, requests for recipes, foodie blogs and cooking websites are trying to out-blog each other about their rampi-ness, and conservationists are preaching about sustainable harvesting. We are lucky to know of many, many places in Connecticut to harvest ramps, and we generally just snip the greens, anyway. Lots of folks ask why their bulbs are so small, and are erroneously told it's the age of the plant. The bulb size is small in spring because all the bulb's energy has gone into making the leaves and flower stalk. We don't bother to dig bulbs unless we have a very specific recipe that needs them, and even then, we wait until just before the ground freezes to get the largest bulb after the greens and flower stalk have long died back and the plant is storing it's energy for the winter.

Here's my conservationist preaching: Don't pick more than 10% of any large patch of ramps you come across, snip only one leaf from each plant, don't take more than you will use unless you plan on freezing the greens, and respect the land and don't pick in public parks or private property without permission.

 

 We have quite a collection of recipes where we only utilize the greens, which hold all that garlicky, oniony funkiness in a green vegetable. This recipe was inspired by an appetizer at one of our favorite restaurants, Noodles, in Northampton, Massachusetts that they call "Rock Garden." It is run by a lovely Thai family and their noodle soups are just the thing for a chilly, rainy day.  

Kanom gui chai is a crispy, but also gummy and chewy savory bomb, usually made with flat Chinese chives. It gets its chew from two different flours: glutinous rice flour and tapioca starch. We use a rice flour from Thailand with red printing on the bag, Erawan brand.

Kanom Gui Chai Tod: makes one 8" x 6" pan, or 1.5 L pan

250 g. ramps greens, washed and sliced thinly

1 tsp. salt

1 tsp. light soy sauce

1.5 tsp. sugar

1 tsp black pepper

1/2 tsp baking soda

1 tsp. oil

230 ml water

100 g rice flour

100 g tapioca starch

oil for deep frying

1. Take the ramps greens and slice them thinly, add to a bowl. Then add the salt, soy sauce, sugar, black pepper, baking soda, and oil. Massage the greens in this mixture and allow to rest about 20 minutes.

2. In a saucepan, add the water and whisk in the rice flour and tapioca starch. Cook over medium heat until the mixture thickens to about the consistency of muffin batter. Remove from the heat.

3. Drain any excess moisture from the ramps greens and fold them into the cooked starch.

4. Lightly rub some oil into a glass or metal baking dish. Pour the starches and ramps mixture in and steam, covered, for 20 minutes. The mixture will set firm.

5. Once it has cooled, gently dump the steamed cake from the pan and cut it into squares or triangles.

6. Heat the frying oil and fry the cakes until browned. Drain the hot cakes on some papertowels and eat while still hot and crispy with a dipping sauce.

Dipping sauce

60 ml dark soy sauce

60 ml sweet soy sauce

60 g dark brown sugar

1 Tbsp rice vinegar

1. Combine all ingredients in a small bowl and mix until the sugar dissolves. You can also add a touch of chili paste or sesame seeds, or thin with additional water.

Upcoming Presentation and Walks

 

 

April 20, 11:00 am at the Milford Public Library, 57 New Haven Ave, Milford, CT. This FREE presentation will cover Your Edible Landscape:  Hunting for wild edible plants doesn’t have to mean hiking in exotic locations far from home; many delicious and nutritious wild foods grow in your own backyard. Disguised as attractive landscaped trees, planted for beautiful blooms, or removed as common nuisance weeds, your edible landscape holds many surprising food sources. Join The 3 Foragers as they teach the fruits, nuts, flowers, and greens found right outside your back door.

April 23, 6:30 pm at the Windsor Public Library, 323 Broad St, Windsor, CT. This FREE presentation will be about the Edible Wild Plants and Fungi of Spring: As the warmer temperatures and longer days of spring unfold, many tender, young edible shoots, plants, flowers, and even a few fungi awaken a forager’s senses and delight. Learn how to identify, sustainably harvest, and prepare the wild foods of spring, from invasive bamboo shoots to the lemony tang of fresh wood sorrel, including some of the early edible fungi of the season. Join The 3 Foragers as they discuss the edible plants and fungi of spring, with their original photos and recipe ideas featured in an educational slideshow. Please register at https://windsorpl.librarycalendar.com/index.php/event/foraging-wild-plants-fungi-ct-14222

April 25, 6:30 pm at the Stratford Library, 2203 Main St, Stratford CT. This FREE presentation will be about the Edible Wild Plants and Fungi of Spring: As the warmer temperatures and longer days of spring unfold, many tender, young edible shoots, plants, flowers, and even a few fungi awaken a forager’s senses and delight. Learn how to identify, sustainably harvest, and prepare the wild foods of spring, from invasive bamboo shoots to the lemony tang of fresh wood sorrel, including some of the early edible fungi of the season. Join The 3 Foragers as they discuss the edible plants and fungi of spring, with their original photos and recipe ideas featured in an educational slideshow. Please register at https://stratfordlibrary.libcal.com/event/11974910

 

 

May 4, 10:00 am, walk in Columbia, CT. Let’s walk the property in search of edible spring ephemerals, flowers, green shoots, invasive edible plants, and maybe even some early spring mushrooms! Cost is $20 per adult, children welcome, please no dogs. The walk will last about 2 hours.

The two hour class begins with an educational handout, a quick overview of safe and responsible foraging practices, and suggestions for resources. We will follow the trail and point out how to identify any edible plants we encounter, with suggestions for preparation and possible preservation. Sustainable harvesting practices will be discussed. The trail distance will be less than a mile with a few roots and a medium climb among the trees, along with an area of open grassland, so please wear appropriate footwear and tick repellant; a walking stick may be helpful. Plan on taking notes and plenty of photos! We will not be collecting on this walk, but using this outdoor space as a hands-on classroom.

Please register by sending the names of participants to the3foragers@gmail.com or call 860-639-9385

 Class size will be limited and the details of the location and parking will be provided a day before the walk so we can keep an eye on the weather.

New Contact Email

 

We can be reached at the3foragers@gmail.com

Send an email to get added to the mailing list for upcoming walks, free presentations, and classes.

Some Upcoming Presentations and Walks

 

Most of the time I keep our Facebook Events page updates with upcoming presentations, at https://www.facebook.com/the3foragers/events/

I have a listing up on the Connecticut Library Consortium page to view our slideshow topics at https://programs.ctlibrarians.org/library-programer/karen-monger

We are open for bookings into the 2024 season for slideshow presentations, walks, and private tastings for groups of 12 or more, please send an email to kracewski@comcast.net to ask about pricing. We work with libraries, garden clubs, nature centers, summer camps, land trusts, and private individuals for programs.

Ramps and Cornmeal Waffles served with Morel Marsala Sauce

Tuesday, March 26 at 6:30 pm I will be presenting a FREE slideshow, Edible Wild Mushrooms of Connecticut, at the Fairfield Public Library, 1080 Old Post Rd., Fairfield CT. Please register with the library at https://fplct.librarymarket.com/event/edible-wild-mushrooms-connecticut-96018

Wednesday, April 3 at 6:00 pm I will be presenting a FREE slideshow, Foraging Fantastic, Delicious, Deadly, and Glowing Mushrooms, at the New Britain Public Library, 20 High St., New Britain CT. Please register at https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfZ6tqL-ytxdCt1-POgQRHRnX54SKl8nepPb93MTWuBdaAnww/viewform

Saturday, April 20 at 11:00 am we will be presenting a FREE slideshow, Your Edible Landscape, at the Milford Public Library, 57 New Haven Ave, Milford CT, as part of the town-wide Earth Day celebration. There is no registration, just drop in!

Tuesday, April 23 at 6:30 pm I will be presenting a FREE slideshow, Edible Wild Plants and Fungi of Spring, at the Windsor Public Library, 323 Broad St, Windsor CT. Please register at https://windsorpl.librarycalendar.com/event/foraging-wild-plants-fungi-ct-14222

Thursday, April 25 at 6:30 pm I will be presenting a FREE slideshow, Edible Wild Plants and Fungi of Spring, at the Stratford Public Library, 2203 Main St, Stratford CT. Please register at https://stratfordlibrary.libcal.com/event/11974910

Saturday, May 4 at 10:00 am we will be leading our first walk of the season in Columbia, CT. We will be looking for and identifying spring shoots, edible flowers, invasive edible plants, and maybe even some early season mushrooms. Register by sending an email to me at the3foragers@gmail.com