Dried bamboo shoots are not only a food used in daily meals, but also a specialty of the Northwest mountains and forests and have a unique flavor in the culinary culture of the ethnic groups here.
From late July to October every year, people in the Dien Bien highlands often go into the forest to collect bamboo shoots. This is also considered an agricultural product and is often sold to local dried bamboo shoot processing facilities after harvest.
Mr. Cha A Hanh - Huoi Chan 2 village, Muong Pon commune, Dien Bien district (Dien Bien), said: "The most delicious bamboo shoots are when they first emerge from the ground about 20-30cm. The feeling of using a knife to separate the outer layer to reveal the white bamboo shoot meat inside is very delicious".
According to the reporter's research, with the current selling price of about 3,000 VND/kg of fresh bamboo shoots, a person can pick 70 - 100 kg of bamboo shoots per day, earning from 200,000 - 300,000 VND.
Mr. Nguyen Van Thang - owner of a dried bamboo shoot purchasing and processing facility in Tin Toc village, Muong Pon commune - said that the secret to having beautiful yellow bamboo shoots is to put the bamboo shoots in when the pot of water is boiling. After about 15 - 20 minutes, take them out and let them dry when they are just cooked. If they are overcooked, they will be crushed, and if they are undercooked, they will not meet the requirements.
To help the bamboo shoots dry quickly and evenly, Mr. Thang often uses a knife to cut along one side of the bamboo shoots. With the current production scale, Mr. Thang's facility purchases about 1 ton of fresh bamboo shoots per day to produce dried bamboo shoots.
According to Mr. Thang, the process of processing dried bamboo shoots is quite elaborate, requiring many meticulous steps. On average, it takes about 15kg of fresh bamboo shoots to create 1kg of finished dried bamboo shoots. Therefore, dried bamboo shoots from the Northwest are always sold at high prices, from 100,000 - 120,000 VND/kg, some types are up to 150,000/kg.
To have delicious, golden dried bamboo shoots, the maker must go through a painstaking process. Under the scorching sun, the fresh bamboo shoots are spread evenly on large sheets of corrugated iron or bamboo mats.
To dry the bamboo shoots to a beautiful golden color, you need to constantly turn them over during the drying process. Each piece of bamboo shoot is the result of careful and continuous care. If the sun is strong, it will take 3-4 days for the bamboo shoots to dry completely.
Dried bamboo shoots are a speciality that is the crystallization of the flavor of the mountains, the sun and wind, and the skillful hands of the highland people. The processing is completely manual, from the meticulous preparation stage to the entire process of drying in the sun until it meets the standards.
A pot of delicious stewed dried bamboo shoots with pig's feet or a plate of crispy stir-fried dried bamboo shoots has become familiar in the daily meals of the Northwest people and also on many sumptuous meals at restaurants and hotels.
