Bamboo (food)

I think I was born and brought up in a city that has the best name in Taiwan. Literally it means new, or fresh bamboo, 新竹(shin zhu2), which is located between Taipei, 台北and Taichung, 台中

It is neither so plain as those place names that carry nothing but their locations in Taiwan, such as Taipei, the north of Taiwan, Taichung, the middle of Taiwan, 台南, Tainan, the south of Taiwan, and 台東, Taitung, the east of Taiwan; nor is it so “gaudy” as those with flowers such as lotus, 花蓮, Hualian or peach, 桃園, Taiyuan.

Bamboo has always been associated with scholars or literary minds in history. It has been extolled for its slimness and upstanding, especially for its joints, which are symbols of virtues. Why’s so? In Chinese, joints, 節(jie2) also could refer to moral integrity. When someone sticks to morality and refuse to betray his country or morality, we’ll call him a 有節之士(you3 jie2 zhi si4), or 守節之士(shou3 jie2 zhi shi4). When a woman became a widow and refused to remarry, her act was called 守節.

It has also been praised for its stem that is void in the center, which is literally called 虛心(xu shin), 虛means empty, nothing; 心,  center. In Chinese虛心is also considered a virtue, which means modesty and willingness to learn from others. Bamboo has thus become one of the four 君子(jun zi3), virtuous men, along with梅(mei2), plum blossom, 蘭(lan2), orchid, 菊(ju2), chrysanthemum. Together they are put as 梅蘭竹菊, or 四君子(si4 jun zi3)

蘇軾(su shi4), or 蘇東坡(su dong po)(1037-1101), one of the major poets of the Song era, once wrote that lack of meat made a person slim, while lack of bamboo made a person vulgar and tasteless. 無肉令人瘦，無竹使人俗(wu2 rou4 ling4 ren2 shou4, wu2 zhu2 shi3 ren2 su2). This is probably the most well-known praise for bamboo.

For those non-scholars or non-literary minds who do not care so much about bamboo for its “joints,” or “virtue,” bamboo is a very beneficial plant for our lives. Its shoots, 竹筍(zhu2 sun3) is a delicious food that is commonly seen on the table in summer, either in soup or salad. It could also be suntanned into 筍乾(sun3 gan), dried bamboo. Stewed with stock, it’s a must-eat on Chinese New Year’s Eve feast for Taiwanese. When preparing 粽子(zong4 zi3), rice dumpling, for Dragon-boat Festival, we use bamboo leaves to wrap them. 

Before the emergence of plastic, bamboo was widely used in the manufacturing of furniture such as chairs, stools, tables, cupboards or beds. When working under the burning sun or in the rain, farmers wore 斗笠(dou3 li4) , a wide-brimmed leaf hat, to protect them, which was made of bamboo leaves. I remember my kid brother had a picture taken around one, where he sat in a baby’s chair made of bamboo.

Sometimes we’ll see some good-for-nothing parents raising up outstanding children that are nothing like themselves. In such cases, we’ll say in Min-Nan dialect that it’s “Bad bamboo breeds good shoots.” 歹竹出好筍. Recently I learned that when harvesting the bamboo shoots, the farmers prefer the bamboos that look slim and malnourished, which means the bamboo has left a lot of nourishment to the shoot. I guess this is why we have such an expression.

In The Twenty-four Filial Exemplars 二十四孝(er4 shi2 si4 xiao4), there was a story with the title “He Wept Till the Bamboo Sprouted” 哭竹生筍(ku zhu2 sheng sun3)or孟宗哭竹(meng4 zhong ku zhu2), where a filial son named 孟宗 was crying in the bamboo woods because his mother was sick and the doctor prescribed the bamboo shoot soup for her. But it was in winter, not the season for the bamboo shoots to sprout. His act out of filial piety touched God, who let the bamboo sprout and his mother recover.

竹筍炒肉絲, bamboo shoots fried with pork shreds, is a yummy dish that is loved by many. But when I was a kid, when hearing our parents saying that they were gonna “treat” us with it, all the kids would start to run, because here the name referred to something other than food.

Unlike today, we were brought up at a time when parents in general believed in 不打不成器(bu4 da3 bu4 cheng2 qi4); spare the rod and spoil the child. But it was not their intention to hurt kids, which was possible when they were in a rage. The branches of bamboo were the solution.

Back in 70s, 80s, branches of bamboo were seen in almost every family. Besides being bound into a big bunch as a broom, a few of them together were used to discipline children. It was a common scene to see an angry father or mother whipping them on the calf of a misbehaving child. It hurt the kid’s skin but would never wound him to the bones. Jokingly we called this punishment竹筍炒肉絲since the bamboo was falling on the “flesh” of a child and the actions of whipping were like a cook’s stir-frying.

That’s why I prefer bamboo shoots in a soup.

花蓮=花莲

桃園=桃园

守節=守节

梅蘭竹菊=梅兰竹菊

蘇軾=苏轼

蘇東坡=苏东坡

無肉令人瘦，無竹使人俗=无肉令人瘦，无竹使人俗

竹筍=竹笋

筍乾=笋干

歹竹出好筍=歹竹出好笋

哭竹生筍=哭竹生笋

竹筍炒肉絲=竹笋炒肉丝