Fresh bamboo shoots, dried bamboo shoots, bamboo shoots, and arrowroot are all delicious and versatile foods. They are traditional and tasty foods that can be used to make many delicious dishes. However, both of these types of food contain a naturally occurring poisonous substance called cyanide. Cyanide is a deadly poison that can kill quickly.
There have been cases of bamboo shoot poisoning and dangerous arrowroot poisoning. But bamboo shoots and arrowroot are still attractive dishes. In winter, the famous arrowroot sweet soup, fragrant sticky rice, and coconuty steamed arrowroot are indispensable. In particular, bamboo shoots are a very attractive dish with salted bamboo shoots, stir-fried bamboo shoots, boiled bamboo shoots, and bamboo shoot soup. The closer it gets to the end of the year, the more bamboo shoots are used.
Why can bamboo shoots and arrowroot cause deadly poisoning?
Both fresh bamboo shoots and arrowroot contain a large amount of cyanide, a dangerous toxic substance. This is a naturally occurring toxic substance in plant growth and cultivation, not a toxin caused by the seller or grower. After entering the body, cyanide is converted into hydrocyanic acid, which causes dizziness, nausea, and in severe cases, can cause bluish skin, respiratory failure, etc. 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 immediately cause death to two children over one year old. In addition, if you buy soaked bamboo shoots, you may be exposed to some substances used by the seller to preserve them for a long time and make them beautiful. They may be whitening agents or sulfur.
In arrowroot, there are sweet arrowroot and bitter arrowroot. The higher the content of cyanide in bitter arrowroot, the higher the content of this substance. With melted arrowroot, this level is even higher.
How to handle bamboo shoots and arrowroot to ensure safety when eating
Both bamboo shoots and arrowroot need to be soaked after peeling. Soak them in water for at least 3-4 hours, the longer the better, to allow this toxin to dissolve into the water.
Soaking them in rice washing water is also a good detoxification method.
With bamboo shoots, after soaking, they need to be boiled 2-3 times before processing.
With arrowroot, after soaking, it can be processed immediately. And if you cook sweet soup or sticky rice, you should remove the fibrous core inside the arrowroot. Cut off both ends of the arrowroot because they usually contain the highest concentration of toxins in the root, bark, and arrowroot fibers.
When boiling bamboo shoots, boiling arrowroot, cooking soup, or stir-frying bamboo shoots, the kitchen should be well-ventilated. The toxin evaporates at high temperatures, so ventilating the kitchen is a safe way to allow any residual toxins from the soaking process to evaporate completely.
If you want to use bamboo shoots for pickling with vinegar or salt to eat, you should also process them like this before soaking to avoid using fresh, unprocessed bamboo shoots.
Remember to boil them thoroughly and ventilate the kitchen while boiling them.
Things to note when buying bamboo shoots and arrowroot
When choosing fresh bamboo shoots, choose ones that are rough-shaped, evenly sized, not brittle but not young, without yellow leaves, withered leaves, spots on the surface, and thin skin.
If the bamboo shoots have abnormal white color or strange odor, they should be discarded.
When buying soaked bamboo shoots, check the color. After returning home, they still need to be boiled and processed for safety.
Things to note when eating bamboo shoots and arrowroot to avoid poisoning
Because bamboo shoots contain a lot of fiber that is difficult to digest, the elderly, children, and those who have just recovered from illness should avoid eating them.
Pregnant women should also avoid eating bamboo shoots as they can cause poisoning.
People who have kidney problems, stomachaches, and gout should also avoid eating bamboo shoots because the components in bamboo shoots are detrimental to their condition.
When hungry, you should not eat bamboo shoots and arrowroot as it is more likely to cause poisoning.
Do not combine bamboo shoots with crispy persimmons as they can easily cause the fiber to clog the intestines and make digestion difficult.
When eating arrowroot, it is recommended to dip it in sugar to prevent the risk of becoming intoxicated or dizzy from eating too much arrowroot. Absolutely do not eat raw arrowroot.
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