In Praise of Bamboo

When people look at tall bamboo waving in the wind, I would be different. My mind would wander back to the days when my paternal Grandfather lived in Sungei Merah. He would be out in the yard, carrying a small alloy bucket, in search of bamboo shoots.

There are a lot of things to say about bamboo.

Bamboo's hard stems are called culms.

They can be used in place of wood, to make furniture, scaffolding, flutes, fence posts, flooring and small tiles. They can even be used as bicycle frames.

They have been used as decorative plants for centuries in China.

The bamboo shoots are usually ebible, some are the best, while some are bitter and too hard.

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Early Chinese books were actually written on bamboo slats.
My best memory of use of bamboo are those short bamboo stools my great grandfather had from China. The other one was the baby chair made from bambool. It could be used as a stool and when turned over it was a baby chair for my sibling.

My grandfather grew several groves of bamboo in his Sungei Merah home. And we enjoyed harvesting bamboo shoots there.

The best dish I can remember cooked by my Grandmother Siew was her braised bamboo shoots with belly pork and lots of onions. She was really a good cook. Bamboo shoots just tasted so sweet in her expert hands.

Today my culinary expertise has expanded and I even cook pork, or fish in bamboo stems. In Sarawak this method of cooking is called Pansuh.