Fresh bamboo shoots are often used in many dishes such as boiling, pickling, stir-frying, and soup, and it is loved by many families. However, many cases of poisoning related to eating bamboo shoots have made many people worried. But rest assured, if you know how to prepare bamboo shoots according to the tips below, it will ensure the safety of your whole family.
Why do bamboo shoots cause poisoning?
Fresh bamboo shoots are rich in fiber, vitamins, especially phytosterols, which have the ability to block bad cholesterol. Therefore, eating fresh bamboo shoots can help cleanse the blood.
However, fresh bamboo shoots contain a lot of cyanide, which is a dangerous toxic substance. After entering the body, cyanide is converted into hydrocyanic acid, which causes dizziness, nausea, and in severe cases, cyanosis, respiratory failure… Fresh bamboo shoots have a very high cyanide content, about 230mg/kg of bamboo shoots, so each kilogram of bamboo shoots contains 230mg of cyanide, which can cause immediate death to children over one year old.
In addition, if you buy soaked bamboo shoots, you may be contaminated with some substances that the seller uses to prolong shelf life and enhance appearance. It could be bleaching agents or sulfur.
How to handle bamboo shoots safely
When you bring bamboo shoots home, you should wash and soak them in salt water or rice washing water for about 30 minutes – 45 minutes. The thicker the rice washing water, the better. After soaking, boil the bamboo shoots in at least 2-3 batches of water for 15-20 minutes.
Note that when boiling bamboo shoots, remember to leave the lid open to let the toxic substances evaporate. When cooking, you should also leave the lid open to let the toxic substances evaporate completely.
If you want to soak bamboo shoots in vinegar or pickling salt to eat, you also have to preprocess them like this before soaking, to avoid using unprocessed fresh bamboo shoots.
Remember to boil the bamboo shoots multiple times and leave the lid open while boiling
Notes when buying bamboo shoots
When choosing fresh bamboo shoots, choose the ones that have a coarse shape, evenly sized, not brittle but not young, no yellow leaves, not withered, no spots on the surface, and thin skin.
If the bamboo shoots have abnormal white color or strange odor, you should discard them.
When buying soaked bamboo shoots, you should check the color. Even after soaking, you still need to preprocess them for safety.
People who should not eat bamboo shoots
Because bamboo shoots are rich in fiber that is difficult to digest, the elderly, children, and people who have just recovered from illness should not eat them.
Pregnant women should also avoid eating bamboo shoots. People who have kidney disease, stomach pain, and gout… should not eat bamboo shoots because the ingredients in bamboo shoots are detrimental to their condition.
When hungry, you should not eat bamboo shoots. It is not advisable to combine bamboo shoots with crispy fruits as it can cause fiber clotting and constipation.
Bamboo shoots are a common food and loved by many people, but they are not nutritious, so you should not overeat them. Special attention should be paid to the preparation. Especially, you should not eat pickled bamboo shoots because the water may still contain toxins.
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