A Detailed Guide to When to Harvest Spring Bamboo Shoots, How to Remove Their Astringency, and What to Note When Eating Them

The start of spring has arrived in the blink of an eye, and in a little while bamboo shoots will be poking their tips out of the bamboo grove, waiting for you to harvest them. Today the editor will introduce to you:when should spring bamboo shoots be harvested? How can they be prepared to remove their astringency? What should be noted when eating them?

1. When should spring bamboo shoots be harvested?

There are three stages for harvesting spring bamboo shoots. In the early harvest period, from early February to early April; the middle period, in mid- to late April; and the late period, in May and after. Spring bamboo shoots that emerge in the early and late periods can all be harvested, since their chances of growing into mature bamboo are very small. But spring bamboo shoots that emerge in the middle period, being large, robust and vigorous, should mostly be selected and left to grow into mature bamboo. What should be dug out are small-diameter shoots, weak shoots, shallow-rhizome shoots, crooked-headed shoots, small shoots, and declining shoots. The characteristics of a declining shoot are: on a sunny morning the shoot tip has no dew, the shoot sheath has lost its hairs, the color is dark, and the texture is soft. When digging shoots, do not damage the bamboo rhizome, the rhizome roots or the rhizome buds. After digging a shoot, immediately backfill the soil to level the shoot hole.

2. How can spring bamboo shoots be prepared to remove their astringency?

Spring bamboo shoots contain insoluble oxalic acid, which can trigger asthma, allergic rhinitis, dermatitis, hives and so on. If you stir-fry sliced or diced bamboo shoots, first boil the spring bamboo shoots in lightly salted water for 5 to 10 minutes, then stir-fry them with other ingredients. High heat can break down most of the oxalic acid, and it also makes the dish free of any astringent taste, more delicious, and prevents allergies from eating spring bamboo shoots. At the same time, when eating bamboo shoots, try not to eat them together with sea fish, to avoid triggering skin diseases.

3. What should be noted when eating them?

1. Generally anyone can eat them.

2. People with an allergic constitution who eat too much will have their health affected, and among them, patients with severe gastric and duodenal ulcers, gastric bleeding, cirrhosis, esophageal varices, chronic enteritis and other such diseases should avoid eating them; children under 15 years of age should especially take care not to eat too much; people with weak spleen and stomach, or women after childbirth, as well as those in whom eating bamboo shoots triggers or brings back asthma, should not eat bamboo shoots; spring bamboo shoots contain a fairly large amount of insoluble calcium oxalate, so patients with urethral stones, kidney stones or gallstones should not eat much of them, and in addition the elderly and frail, those with indigestion, and those with a weak spleen and loose intestines should not eat much of spring bamboo shoots.

3. Fresh bamboo shoots should not be eaten in large amounts; it is best for each person not to eat more than half a shoot per meal.

Although spring bamboo shoots have high nutritional value, they are cold in nature and sweet in taste, and also contain a lot of crude fiber, so after eating a large amount they are hard to digest and easily burden the stomach and intestines, especially for people who already suffer from gastrointestinal diseases, who must not eat large amounts. Patients with urethral stones, kidney stones, severe gastric and duodenal ulcers, gastric bleeding, cirrhosis, esophageal varices, chronic enteritis, weak spleen and stomach and other such diseases should not eat much bamboo shoot.