Are the Outer Leaves of the Bamboo Shoot Edible?
Are the outer leaves of the bamboo shoot edible, good for compost or bamboo broth, or useful for anything besides throwing away? It seems that the vast majority of the shoot is not good for eating.
I have several other questions as well. First, when I buy canned bamboo shoots, the canning liquid is both edible and tasty. Is this true of the water used for boiling, or must it be thrown out? Is it useful for anything else?
What is the best way to identify an edible variety of bamboo growing wild?
And what are the most commonly sold (in nurseries) types of edible bamboo (that is, which types of edible bamboo would one be likely to find for sale in a nursery)?
⭐ Best Answer:
Outer sheaths of bamboo shoots are not edible — they’re tough, fibrous, and often contain more toxins. Best use: compost or mulch.
Boiling water from fresh shoots must always be discarded, because it collects the bitter cyanogenic compounds you’re trying to remove. This is very different from canned bamboo brine, which is safe because the shoots were pre-detoxified before canning.
Identifying edible bamboo in the wild: Nearly all young shoots are technically edible after proper peeling/boiling, but bitterness varies by species. Always discard the first boiling water, and when in doubt, cook longer.
Most common edible nursery species: Dendrocalamus asper, Bambusa oldhamii, Bambusa vulgaris, and in temperate regions, Phyllostachys edulis (Moso) and Phyllostachys aurea, among many others.
