With all the talk of moso on this forum, I thought IÂd show you a simple way to prepare the shoot for a quick snack. First of all, hereÂs the untouched shoot in the wild. Only the top is used:

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Then the poor guys are cut, piled up, and transported down the mountain in self crafted backpacks made from laundry hampers! Collecting pressure near cities is intense and some groves are being depleted. Still, the lionÂs share of the exisiting groves today were human made. The bigger problem is loss of groves from urban sprawl.

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Now the shoot must be cleaned of its outer tissues, thus exposing the meat inside. This shoot is one I bought at a store. It was probably collected last spring on a local mountain, and has been in storage since then:

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The shoot is cut up and placed in pot of water and ponzu sauce. Ponzu is generally made from mixing lemon juice with special vinegars, soy sauce (shouyu), fish flakes, and perhaps a few spices. There are different varieties of ponzu and you can even buy them in the states. Getting back to cooking: simmer the shoots for about an hour or until soft.

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And hereÂs the simple, tastey snack!

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I know most of you would never imagine doing this with your beloved plants, but in Japan moso is an important traditional springtime food. PF