April in Japan, fresh bamboo shoots in green curry

April in Japan, fresh bamboo shoots in green curry

We are in the end of the bamboo shoots season so every time I go grocery shopping, I get some bamboo shoots. There are many ways to enjoy them but my favorite is in green curry. My home’s green curry was always with chicken, bamboo shoot, eggplant with some shishito peppers. The ingredients are not so authentic like the ones in Thai, (because we live in Japan) we usually make them with local Japanese vegetables rather than buying expensive imported vegetables from Thai.

As I started cooking for myself and trying to eat seasonal vegetables as much as possible, I started to tweak the ingredients for the curries. The variations for the curries are endless but for early summer green curry my favorite is with fresh bamboo shoot, winter daikon, enoki or eringi mushrooms, shishito peppers and chicken thighs.

Winter daikons are sweet and watery which contrasts with the rich curry sauce. I usually cut them 1.5 – 2cm thick and precook them by boiling them. I also add at bit more curry paste so it perfectly matches the daikon.

Bamboo shoots give the crunch and umami and same with the mushroom. Shishito gives the fresh grassy taste which lightens up the curry and chicken gives the depth.

Curries are usually eaten with rice and eggs. The eggs have to be perfectly cooked, crispy on the outside and the yolk still soft. For this meal, I also prepared some soup with softer parts of bamboo shoots, minced pork, tofu and seasoned with Umeboshi. The hint of sourness of the Umeboshi was such a good palate cleanser.