Damyang on the Table

Bamboo Sprout Pasta

Spring is here to stay and seasonal ingredients begin to grow fast under the warm sunlight. In Damyang, bamboo sprouts spring up across bamboo forests after an April shower. Feeding on the nutrients absorbed from bamboo trunks, bamboo sprouts are rich in nutrition and flavor. Here is a special recipe featuring bamboo sprouts as the main ingredient.

📝Text by. Editorial Team  /  🎨Illustrated . Gyeol

A Kick for Spring Recipes

  • When spring comes, small cones begin to pop up from underground. These are bamboo sprouts growing from the bamboo trunks that were cut off the previous year. These young, tender bamboo sprouts are ready to eat as early as April. Since they grow so quickly and turn into bamboo trees in just ten days, it is crucial to harvest them in time. For this reason, bamboo sprouts have been considered a premium delicacy.
    Rich in Vitamin B, bamboo sprouts are particularly good for relieving fatigue. With a high amount of protein and dietary fiber, they are a great ingredient for those who are trying to lose weight. You can enjoy bamboo sprouts in various recipes. You can make soup, blanch and season them, or pickle them. However, bamboo sprouts are still considered a rare ingredient for pasta. Surprisingly, adding fresh bamboo sprouts harvested in spring to your pasta can give it a special flavor and an aesthetic boost. You can use bamboo sprouts in your cream pasta or tomato pasta, but they are best for oil pasta. You can use bamboo sprouts instead of the usual clams, shrimps, or beef for oil pasta as a kick, and top it with a few basil leaves to finish. This way, the original flavors of the ingredients as well as their taste and texture remain intact and still strike a fine balance as a dish.
    When the sprouts are covered in the pasta sauce, the color of the sprouts gets blurred, making the dish look dull on the outside. But once you bite into the sprouts in the pasta, you will be pleasantly surprised by the extra-crunchy, chewy texture.

  • Ingredients
    Pasta noodles, 1T salt, 10T olive oil, 15 cloves of garlic, 1/4 onion, 70g bamboo sprouts, a few basil leaves, Parmigiano Reggiano, ground pepper, pepperoncino
  • Directions
    1. Boil pasta noodles in water. Add some salt to the boiling water so that the noodles absorb the salt.
    2. Put some olive oil in a pan, add garlic and pepperoncino, and stir-fry them.
    3. When the garlic turns golden brown, add onion and bamboo sprouts and saute until they become soft.
    4. Put some of the pasta water into the pan and mix everything well until you get the desired consistency and the ingredients are evenly coated with the sauce.

      ※ Sprinkle with ground pepper or salt to taste.

    5. Transfer the pasta to a plate and grate Parmigiano Reggiano over the pasta. Garnish with basil leaves to finish.
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