Chapter 6: anji bamboo shoots with jinhua ham
A far cry from the finest bamboo shoots of the Anji Bamboo Forest, but an attempt at doing my best with what I had in stock: vacuum packed bamboo shoots and a recovered hunk of Jamón Ibérico.
"Wishing you all a Happy 2024 with the latest installment of the cookalong. It’s been progressing at a much slower rate than I wanted, but what can I say - I’m a perfectionist (to my idea of perfection, that is, not necessarily everybody else’s), and the imposter in my head is strong, preventing me from settling for anything less than that. That’s not to say I haven’t been making my way through the compelling pages of 'Invitation to Banquet'; on the contrary, I’m just adjusting to the recent realisation that time moves at a phenomenal rate the older you get. The kids are more demanding than ever. Pure joy, but seriously hard work. Nothing worrying, just sibling rivalry, backchat, mood swings, evolving personalities, humour, tantrums, the lot - all challenging, but all comforting at the same time: they’re just kids being kids.
Given the murky, rocky waters surrounding Substack at the moment, I’m reluctant to continue posting here so please do bear with me as I look for an alternative (or wait until the waters clear).
Anyway, I hope that all of you have been safe and well in recent months. Now, let’s talk about food!
Chapter 6: Anji Bamboo Shoots and Jinhua Ham. It was obvious from the outset that I’d never be able to replicate this exact dish. As Fuchsia writes while describing her feelings upon tasting it at the Dragon Well Manor in Hangzhou, “It was a dish that whispered, 'only here, only now,’ a dish that would have been impossible to taste in London, New York, or even Beijing. It shone and sang.” So, that eradicated any hopes of that. But oh, how delicious it sounds!
Chinese Food in Madrid
I’ve only ever known, like many Westerners, I suspect, bamboo shoots as flat and (dare I say it) tasteless slivers in a tin. That was until a recent trip to Madrid where I had them cold as a snack in a 'bao bar/restaurant,' cut into chunky chip-like batons and drenched in an intensely savory soy and sesame dressing - so refreshing, so addictive! Not the traditional Spanish meal I was planning for my first night in Madrid, but it got late, and the hanger was taking grip. Cue a little wander around the streets near the hotel and midnight (well, 10 pm-ish, really) noodles and dumplings at Little Dragon. Other delectables enjoyed: the softest, most tender capsules of joy, xiaolongbao (or Shanghai soup dumplings); knockout wontons with a mouth-numbing spicy sauce; and a bowl of pure celestial comfort, xuecai rousi tang mian (or noodle soup with pork and pickled greens).
Preserved Bamboo Shoots and Jamón Ibérico
I thought perhaps I’d at least aim to get the best ingredients possible from a Chinese supermarket - especially given that freshness, god-tier quality and seasonal sourcing are at the heart of this chapter - but it’d probably be another month before I made it there and I didn’t want to delay the cookalong any further. I can always repeat!
So, I set to work with what I had: a few packets of whole, boiled and vacuum-packed bamboo shoots and a hunk of Jamón Ibérico (Iberico ham) recovered from the abyssal plains of the chest freezer. After a little bit of Googling, I went for the combo in two guises: tender slices of shoots with morsels of thr soft, salty cured ham immersed in a beautiful, delicate broth (made from pork, chicken, spring onions, ginger, Shaoxing wine); and a version perhaps more similar to the title dish of the chapter, where I stir-fried the shoots with pink flecks of ham, a splash of the broth from the aforementioned soup and a little soy sauce for moisture and extra savouriness (though the soy sauce was probably not necessary with the saltiness of the ham and broth). A far cry from the finest bamboo shoots fresh from the Anji Bamboo Forest but delicious nevertheless.
This was originally intended as a trial, with the intent to repeat for pictures; alas, life isn’t always perfect and we don’t always get our own way (though the eat wasn’t too far from perfection, if I do say so myself). I'm sure I've made a few faux pas in my freestyle foray into Chinese cooking here, but the result was a scrumptious blend of flavours that I’m keen to repeat again and again.
Join me next time for Chapter 7: Stir-fried Chinese Broccoli with Ginger.
Having spent nearly 3 weeks in Sevilla last year surrounded by jamón, I never expected to see it featured in a Chinese dish! Fascinating ..