Cooking Bamboo Shoots with Joi Ito

Boing Boing tv takes you with Joi Ito to cook up some delicious takenoko (竹の子), young bamboo shoots. You may know Joi Ito as a serial entrepreneur, a twittering globetrotter VC, a World of Warcraft junkie, or the CEO of Creative Commons, but he has a more traditional side, too.,br>
In this video, Joi Ito welcomes us into his back yard in Japan, where he and his partner Mizuka teach us how to hunt for and prepare this traditional seasonal delicacy from a lush bamboo forest. The episode is accompanied by an original score composed by Grammy, Academy Award, and Golden Globe-winning composer, Ryuichi Sakamoto.

Watch Cooking Bamboo Shoots with Joi Ito


Here's the recipe for TAKENOKO (Young Bamboo Shoots):
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How to slice:

Cut tip of takenoko at an angle. Cut vertical to down middle to front.

"Akunuki" process to remove bitter taste:

In a large boiling pot add:

* Dried Chili X 3
* Rice "Nuka" husks 2 handfuls

Cold water 2 liters

Add takenoko with the cuts and husks. Full heat from water for approximately 20-40 min (until you can stick a chopstick into the takenoko). Lower heat as it comes to a boil. After completed, cut heat and leave over night.

The next day, remove husks and cut to smaller pieces and boil for 10 min.
Making "Wakatakeni":

Make 2 cups stock from "Kobu" (seaweed) and "Katsuo" (Bonito flakes). Add Thin Soy Sauce - 3 table spoon, Sugar - table spoon, Sake - 2 table spoon. Add takenoko and boil for 8 min. Add "Wakame" (seaweed) and boil for additional 2 min.

Top with "Kinome" (Japanese herb) and eat as it is OR

Make Takenoko rice:

Make stewed Takenoko above but use "Oage" (dried tofu) instead of "Wakame". Take the sauce from Wakatakeni" and add as flavor to rice in a rice cooker and prepare rice normally. After rice is done, add the stewed takenoko and oage and mix. Enjoy.

Note: "cups" are Japanese size cups which are 200ml or 200cc.