Bamboo Shoots - jûk-séun 竹筍

I love bamboo shoots (竹筍 - jûk-séun). I have so far tried 3 varieties: the winter, the spring and the horse hoof. I don’t know if there are any more kinds but these are the 3 types available here in Hong Kong.

From May to mid-August this is the season of the “horse hoof” called máah-taìh - 馬蹄 in Cantonese. Then from mid-August to January we have the winter bamboo shoots (冬竹筍 - dûng-jûk-séun), followed from March to end of April by the spring (春竹筍 -  cheûn-jûk-séun) variety.

Braised Pig’s Trotters with Fermented Bean Curd

This is the time of the year when we yearn for hearty meals and for families to prepare roasted meat and soups. We are now in November and the cooler months approaching special winter dishes such as braised goat is back on the menu of restaurants.

Goat, mutton, eggs, chicken, etc. belong to the yang category. According to Chinese beliefs yang foods are believed to increase the body heat, nourish and replenish us during the cold season.