Curious about Bamboo Fungus

[SuzySushi]

I'm curious about Bamboo Fungus. I had some tonight in a dish at a Chinese restaurant. I'd never seen, heard of, or tasted it before. It reminded me of "fish maw," except that the dish was completely vegetarian (rectangles of deep fried tofu, te bamboo fungus, and sugar snap peas in a fresh ginger sauce).

I started to Google bamboo fungus anc came up with a lot of mentions of using it in shark's fin soup, and buying it at an herbalist.

Does anyone know anything else about it?

[hzrt8w]

I'm curious about Bamboo Fungus.

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Something might have been lost in translation. I couldn't figured out what it is. Can you describe it a little more? What it looks like? Tastes like? Color? Shape?

Edited March 9, 2005 by hzrt8w (log)

[SuzySushi]

I'm curious about Bamboo Fungus.

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Something might have been lost in translation. I couldn't figured out what it is. Can you describe it a little more? What it looks like? Tastes like? Color? Shape?

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I'm assuming it's some sort of fungus/mushroom. It was cut into rectangles sso I don't know what it's original shape was... cream color, spongy texture, little flavor on its own but absorbed the flavor of the sauce. As I said, the closest comparison I can make is to "fish maw."

In searching more, I came up with this website and picture, but I'd still like to know more about its culinary (not medicinal) uses. Bamboo Fungus

[aprilmei]

I believe it's called "bamboo pith".

[SuzySushi]

I believe it's called "bamboo pith".

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Okay, so what's bamboo pith?

(I'm really sorry I forgot to take my camera to the restaurant. The dish looked - and tasted - very interesting.)

[origamicrane]

its the stuff inside of the bamboo.

you buy it dried and it usually used for soups or in dishes with lots of sauce as it takes on the flavour of the sauce.

[Ben Hong]

I believe that everyone is talking about white "fungus", although I think the stuff comes from the sea(?). It comes in brittle, round clumps in the dried form. When soaked and cooked it has a bit of flavour, but I use it for textural contrast as even though it's soft, when you chew it, it feels "crunchy".

[aprilmei]

As far as I know, bamboo pith is like a little mushroom that grows over the tip of the bamboo. It has a sort of net-like appearance (maybe lacey would be a better word). It's hard to describe the shape - I guess something like a cleaned squid, with the innards, tentacles and those little "wings" on the side removed - in other words, like a cleaned squid body. Maybe two inches long and 1/2 inch wide at the base. The colour is pale cream. It's sold dried, in packages (if I remember correctly, it has a white string tied loosely around it), and needs to be soaked before use. It's good because it soaks up the flavours of other ingredients so it's usually cooked into soups and stews, although I have had it in stir-fries.

Forgot to mention the texture, which is very hard to describe... spongy but not soggy, with a little bit of "bite".

Edited March 9, 2005 by aprilmei (log)

[SuzySushi]

I believe that everyone is talking about white "fungus", although I think the stuff comes from the sea(?). It comes in brittle, round clumps in the dried form. When soaked and cooked it has a bit of flavour, but I use it for textural contrast as even though it's soft, when you chew it, it feels "crunchy".

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Hmmn... I wonder if that's the same thing. I can't seem to find a definite answer on this one. Maybe next time I go by the restaurant, I'll get the dish's name in Chinese characters to see if that gives any more clues.

Your explanation is particularly interesting because I always thought of "white fungus" as being an expensive, rare ingredient. This dish cost $8.95 (about average for this restaurant) and contained quite a bit of it.

[SuzySushi]

As far as I know, bamboo pith is like a little mushroom that grows over the tip of the bamboo. It has a sort of net-like appearance (maybe lacey would be a better word). It's hard to describe the shape - I guess something like a cleaned squid, with the innards, tentacles and those little "wings" on the side removed - in other words, like a cleaned squid body. Maybe two inches long and 1/2 inch wide at the base. The colour is pale cream. It's sold dried, in packages (if I remember correctly, it has a white string tied loosely around it), and needs to be soaked before use. It's good because it soaks up the flavours of other ingredients so it's usually cooked into soups and stews, although I have had it in stir-fries.

Forgot to mention the texture, which is very hard to describe... spongy but not soggy, with a little bit of "bite".

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Well, as I said, this was cut into neat rectangles (about 2" x 1") and it did have an unusual spongy, but pleasant, texture. The "bamboo fungus" was the best part of this dish, IMO, because it did soak up so many flavors. I thought the tofu part was too bland and could've used a dash of soy or other seasonings before being combined with the other ingredients.

[hzrt8w]

I agree with Aprilmei, it does sound like you are talking about what I'd heard as Bamboo Pith. I have a couple of bags of them in my cupboard. I took a look at their labels, I found that they provided the Latin name:

Dictyophora indusiata

Did a google on this term, I found 980 pages of references.

dictyophora indusiata

Here is a picture of one:

Picture of Dictyophora indusiata

They are used in Chinese vegetarian cookings or in shark-fin soup.

Surprisingly, they are not expensive at all. I bought a bag at around US $4.00 (300g or about 6 oz?). These things are light.

By themselves they taste rather bland. But they soak up the flavor in the sauce, which makes them tasty. They provide a crunchy texture.

I don't know how they are related to bamboos.

[SuzySushi]

I agree with Aprilmei, it does sound like you are talking about what I'd heard as Bamboo Pith.  I have a couple of bags of them in my cupboard.  I took a look at their labels, I found that they provided the Latin name:

Dictyophora indusiata

Did a google on this term, I found 980 pages of references.

dictyophora indusiata

Here is a picture of one:

Picture of Dictyophora indusiata

They are used in Chinese vegetarian cookings or in shark-fin soup.

Surprisingly, they are not expensive at all.  I bought a bag at around US $4.00 (300g or about 6 oz?).  These things are light.

By themselves they taste rather bland.  But they soak up the flavor in the sauce, which makes them tasty.  They provide a crunchy texture.

I don't know how they are related to bamboos.

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Maybe bamboo fungus and bamboo pith are the same thing. In Google, I've been finding the same Latin name for both...

[fiore]

The bamboo pith fungus is called zhu sun in Chinese. It grows in the mulch at the base of bamboo plants, and is a famous product of southern Sichuan. It's a bizarre and beautiful plant: starts off as strange brownish balls which peep up through the mulch of earth and bamboo leaves, and then a phallic central section emerges. When fully grown it looks like a parasol; you get the main stem (which is those lacy tubes you can buy dried), the even-more-lacy parasol hanging over it, and on top a thicker piece which has a texture a bit like tripe (a sort of hat on top of the parasol). They can all be eaten, although the stems are the most common part.

You can also eat the immature fungus balls (called the 'eggs' of the fungus in Chinese), which are lovely: cut into slices, they have layers of different pale colours and a curled-up lacy parasol in the middle.

Fuchsia

I agree with Aprilmei, it does sound like you are talking about what I'd heard as Bamboo Pith.  I have a couple of bags of them in my cupboard.  I took a look at their labels, I found that they provided the Latin name:

Dictyophora indusiata

Did a google on this term, I found 980 pages of references.

dictyophora indusiata

Here is a picture of one:

Picture of Dictyophora indusiata

They are used in Chinese vegetarian cookings or in shark-fin soup.

Surprisingly, they are not expensive at all.  I bought a bag at around US $4.00 (300g or about 6 oz?).  These things are light.

By themselves they taste rather bland.  But they soak up the flavor in the sauce, which makes them tasty.  They provide a crunchy texture.

I don't know how they are related to bamboos.

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Maybe bamboo fungus and bamboo pith are the same thing. In Google, I've been finding the same Latin name for both...

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