Bamboo Soup: The Perfect Cold Weather Recipe!

With the weather cooling off, it’s time for soup season! Soups are excellent accompaniments or meals within themselves – they are easy-to-make, filling and very often diet-friendly foods. This bamboo soup recipe originates from Laos where soup is a staple in meals and it uses sticky rice, the use of which is a major distinction between Laotian and Thai cuisine.

This dish contains a few unique ingredients so make sure to visit your local Oriental market for these ingredients!

Ingredients & Equipment Needed:

2 c. yanang extract (yanang is a climbing plant native to mainland Southeast Asia)
2 c. bamboo
1 c. chopped mushrooms
15 – 20 quail eggs (hard boiled)
2 tbsp. chopped lemongrass
2 tbsp. chopped shallots
2 tbsp. sticky rice
4 chilies
2 tbsp. salted gourami fish or 3 tbsp. fish sauce
Mortar & Pestle

To prepare your Bamboo Soup:

Boil bamboo for 30 minutes.
Drain water and chop bamboo.
Soak sticky rice in water for 30 minutes
Drain water and place sticky rice in a mortar with the chilies.
Pound with pestle until rice is a thick paste.
Remove the sticky rice paste and reserve.
Add lemongrass and shallots in the mortar and pound with pestle until they are crushed into small pieces.
In a pot over high heat, add chopped bamboo, yanang extract, mushrooms, and crushed lemongrass and shallots.
Bring to a boil.
Add salted gourami fish or fish sauce, sticky rice paste and quail eggs.
Cook for 15 minutes (or until rice cooks) stirring frequently to keep rice from burning on the bottom of the pot.

Enjoy!

For more delicious bamboo recipes, visit Green Earth News section on Bamboo Flavors. And for more ways to stay warm as the weather chills, consider thermo-regulating bamboo bed sheets and amazingly plush and warm women’s robes offered by Green Earth Bamboo!