The bamboo shoots which are most frequently eaten by people of Kenting in Hengchun Peninsula, are a special kind of “Horseshoe Crab Bamboo” that can be used for utensils and real Kenting local food.
They are the original material of furniture. “Long-shoot Bamboo is used to make chair, table, bed, and cabinet.
It is also known as Horseshoe Green” (Chen Wenda 陳文達 1996).
Many local chronicles recorded this kind of bamboo, and the name of Long-shoot Bamboo was originated from “bamboo knot” (Jiang Yuying 1993).
Its ecology and use are also clearly recorded. “It is two or three feet in height and three or four inches in circumference; it contains flat bamboo knots.
Taiwanese chairs, bed frames, cabinets, and other items are made of it.
It grows in the mountain meadow, and it is grown by people.
‘Cut it thinly to make tools’, is a sentence obtained from a Chinese literature ‘Tongzhi’”
Bamboo shoots growing in Manzhou mountains
Long-shoot Bamboo is tall, and it contains small leaves. It also contains long distance between nodes of bamboo.
It is a kind of clumping bamboo with branch size in between the green bamboo and hemp bamboo. Some people plant Long-shoot Bamboo next to the house, as a windshield bamboo forest.
Once the old bamboo is cut down, it can be cut thinly to make basket and utensils.
Although Long-shoot Bamboo is not the most conspicuous plant in the peninsula, it is the native species of bamboo most closely related to the life of people and became a famous Kenting local food.
Manzhou resident cleans bamboo shoots before bringing them home
The bamboo shoots of Long-shoot Bamboo are also very special – there has been a record of growing one meter long in one night. Therefore, it is considered as the fastest growing plant in the world.
Its bamboo shoot is coarse and bitter, nevertheless, it is a dish that people in Kenting often eat in the summer.
The biggest difference when comparing to other young shoots is that the peeled and cut bamboo shoots must be boiled until fully cooked, and then placed in the flowing water to remove the bitter taste.
The dish is also suitable to be braised or quickly fried.
The crispy shoot of this kind of “Horseshoe Crab Bamboo”, with an inevitable mild bitter taste when eating, has always been the favorite bamboo shoot of people in Kenting and all Hengchun Peninsula.
In this peninsula, even if green bamboo is planted, no matter put how much effort in taking care of it, the shoot as tender and sweet as that of the northern Taiwan will not grow.
Hence, why not choose the God-given local taste of bamboo shoot, of which it grows out when the time is up?
