Tra My bamboo shoot season - Gift from the mountains and forests

VHO - Not only is it the harvest season of fresh bamboo shoots, bringing in income, each bamboo shoot season is also a joyful season, a season imbued with the rustic flavor of wild products that the mountains and forests give to the people of Tra My mountains and forests.

Products of the mountains and forests

These days, the Ca Dong and Xo Dang people are bustling to go to the Tra Giap, Tra Tan, and Tra Van forests of Da Nang city to harvest fresh bamboo shoots.

Bamboo shoots are a type of bamboo that grows naturally from bamboo trees (same family as bamboo). Bamboo shoots often grow naturally in forests, or are grown in the fields of the Ca Dong and Xo Dang people in the communes of Tra Ka, Tra Giac, Tra Giap (formerly Bac Tra My district), Tra Van, Tra Vinh (formerly Nam Tra My district) of the former Quang Nam province.

Ca Dong people in Tra My go into the forest to pick bamboo shoots. Photo: VTP

When the forest rains begin, from around August to December, young bamboo shoots grow quickly, becoming a product that the mountains and forests give to the people here.

Ca Dong and Xe Dang people go into the forest to harvest bamboo shoots that have just emerged from the ground for about 10-12 days, the tips have not grown more than 20 cm above the ground.

At this time, the bamboo shoots are plump, ivory white, have fresh green skin, are slightly sweet, not bitter and retain their characteristic crispness even when dried or processed into typical dishes of the local people.

Fresh bamboo shoots harvested at this time have a slightly sweet taste and retain their characteristic crispness.

After being picked, the bamboo shoots will be boiled and the locals will bring them to the intersections and commune centers to sell to passersby, becoming a rustic product with a rich mountain flavor that many people love and seek to buy.

After harvesting, the bamboo shoots will be boiled before being brought to the market to sell or processed into culinary dishes.

Many unique dishes are prepared by the local people from bamboo shoots such as: stir-fried bamboo shoots with meat, boiled bamboo shoots with salt and chili, green chili, sour soup, bamboo shoots stewed with duck, mixed bamboo shoots or pickled with chili.

Enhancing the value of mountain and forest products

Bamboo shoots are not only a unique culinary product that brings income, but also a typical product carrying cultural, ecological and economic values ​​of the people in the Tra My highlands.

Dried bamboo shoot products

To keep the bamboo shoots' flavor intact and for long-term use, in addition to preparing dishes from fresh bamboo shoots, local people prepare them by boiling them first, then drying them, or pickling them in bamboo tubes to eat gradually during the winter.

Nowadays, people have researched and produced vacuum-packed dried bamboo shoots to preserve them longer, and the products can reach larger markets.

Harvesting bamboo shoots - a product of Tra My mountain forest. Photo: VTP

Tra Ka dried bamboo shoots are processed and preserved using traditional methods at the facility of Mr. Nguyen Hoang Thong's family in the former Tra Ka commune (now Tra Giap commune, Da Nang city). This is one of the typical OCOP products that has achieved 3-star certification of the former mountainous district of Bac Tra My.

Tra Ka dried bamboo shoots product of Nguyen Hoang Thong facility is a typical OCOP product that has received 3-star certification from Bac Tra My district before.

It is known that each harvest season, the facility purchases more than 2 tons of raw bamboo shoots harvested by the Ca Dong people from naturally grown bamboo shoots or those grown in swidden fields.

Fresh bamboo shoots will be boiled, then dried at high temperature, vacuum packed, have a long shelf life, no preservatives used, when processed still retain the characteristic flavor, ensuring food hygiene and safety.

In the meals served to guests by the Tra My highlanders, bamboo shoots are an indispensable delicacy.

The land of Bac Tra My, the old Quang Nam province, is famous for Tra My cinnamon products, upland rice wine, etc. With the desire to improve the quality and build a brand for local products, recently, the locality has registered to participate in OCOP for many products such as: Tra My Minh Phuc cinnamon essential oil; Tra My honey; Bac Tra My upland rice wine; bamboo shoot kimchi, etc.

Source: https://baovanhoa.vn/dan-toc-ton-giao/mua-mang-nua-tra-my-qua-tang-tu-nui-rung-166285.html