Peggy made Bamboo Fungus Chicken Rolls in Vermicelli Soup in the South Arm Community Kitchen. This is the first time Peggy demonstrated in the kitchen and she introduced us to a new ingredient which is the Bamboo Fungus.
Bamboo Fungus or Bamboo Pith is a fungus which grows among bamboo forests. It is called Zhu Sheng in Chinese and is commonly used in vegetarian dishes.
Bamboo Fungus has many common names based on its appearance, including long net stinkhorn, crinoline stinkhorn, basket stinkhorn, bridal veil fungus or veiled lady.
Those on the left in darker color are wild bamboo fungus which Peggy brought from Taiwan. The wild bamboo fungus has more intense flavour and smell. The lighter ones on the right are commonly found in Chinese groceries stores which sell dried seafood and other dried groceries. Those had been trimmed. Only the stem part is used in this recipe.
Ingredients
- 100g chicken breast
- 50g carrot, peeled and cut into match stick
- 50g asparagus, peel stem part if necessary can cut into 1.5″ length
- 50g dried bamboo fungus
- 1 teaspoon oyster sauce
- 1/2 teaspoon sesame oil
- 1/2 teaspoon soy sauce
- 1/2 teaspoon cornstarch
- 2 slices ginger
Click on the link below for the instructions.
Instructions
 Rinse the chicken breast and wipe dry. Cut into thick strips (about 5cm long) and marinate with sesame oil, corn starch, oyster sauce and soy sauce for 30 minutes. Soak the dried bamboo fungus in cold water well until they expanded. |
 Blanch the bamboo fungus with 2 slices of ginger in boiling water for 5 minutes to remove the “raw” or fishy flavour.
Drain and squeeze out the excess from the bamboo fungus. |
 Place strip of the marinated chicken breast with one piece of asparagus and carrot together. |
 Stuff the bamboo fungus with the above. It is not so easy to stuff the bamboo fungus as it is very soft and fragile. This is some delicate hands. |
 Arrange the stuffed bamboo fungus on a plate.
Steam the stuffed bamboo fungus over high heat for 10 minutes or until the chicken is cooked. Pour away the excess liquid. Peggy served the bamboo fungus chicken rolls on a bed of vermicelli which comes in tomorrow’s post. Stay tune. |
Hi Suanne,
I LOVE bamboo fungus. It’s very good on top of green leafy vegetables or in soup. Just wondering, do you know where in Vancouver/Richmond I can get bamboo fungus
Hi Christine,
I have seen packs of bamboo fungus in T&T so you should be able to get it there or in Osaka Supermarket (which is part of the same group – in Yaohan Center)
I’ve never seen such a fungus before – what does it taste like? Does it have a very strong flavour (just guessing…with a name like stinkhorn!)?
Hi Su-Lin, the bamboo does not have a very flavour unless you are able to get those wild ones.
Lily refered me to you in her blog. I think I ate the bamboo pith only once in Singapore. Is it popular only among vegetarain?
Wow — I had this in some takeout this weekend and seriously thought it was seafood, due to the crispy texture and fishy smell. Maybe I’ll try it again and see if I like it when I’m not suspicious of its possibly-not-vegetarian origins…
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