Well, at least one thing is now clear: I don’t care for bamboo shoots. (Who knew, right?)
This dish looked so GOOD in the cookbook I found it pictured in (which shall remain nameless since I’m giving the dish – spoiler alert – an unfavorable review but it may have been user/palate error), and I couldn’t wait to give it a try. So after work I diced the tofu and fried it up in my most wok-like pan, then added some sliced mushrooms, shredded cabbage, snow peas, and – yes – the bamboo shoots, stir-frying for a few minutes before putting a lid on the pan to braise everything for the final touch.
Once everything was nearly cooked, I added some soy sauce and brown sugar to the mix, stirred everything around, and gave it a minute or two to breathe before flicking the eye of the stove to Off and declaring dinner ready!
We served our tofu and vegetables with steamed rice – which goes with everything, you know – and sat down to eat. LeeLee dove right in, declaring dinner a masterpiece, but I hung back. There was something … off … about the meal. Something wasn’t right with the smell. Something footy was, well, afoot.
One taste of the bamboo shoots got me my answer. With enough sauce, I’m sure they can hide right away – as they likely do when I enjoy them at restaurants – but here at home, they stood right out in all their bamboo-shoot glory. Again, LeeLee and I diverged in our feelings – he loved them, and polished off my discards, but I just could not stand them. I did finish everything else on my plate, but I confess this was not the best meal I’ve ever made – or even that I’ve made this week! – and it’s likely not one I’ll make again.
That said, we ate, we enjoyed the company and dinnertime chat, and we did so on our typical Recessionista budget. As a result, I count the night as a win. :)
:)