Bamboo shoots for lunch

Bamboo shoot forcing itself out from surrounding little of dried bamboo leaves
Location : Zone G

Bamboo shoot removed of sheaths

 I meant to post this yesterday but due to very poor internet connection last night I can't even send a picture in an hour!  But the fun of the story kept me alive for another day. This morning  at last the bamboo shoot story is told. But how to eat the bamboo shoot?  For the cooking section I refer to my wife.  I collect the shoots and she does the rest.  First, cut the outer thick skin (sheaths) of the shoot till you reach the inner core of the shoot as shown at the inset. Then cut it further into smaller bite pieces as shown below.  Then boil them for about an hour to soften. Prepare a paste of Belacan with red chillies, onions and dried prawns.  Keep cooking the bamboo shoot mixed with coconut milk and the paste for about 15 minutes.  When done and well cooked, serve hot with salted fish.  Eating them is like heaven on earth.  Thanks to the Almighty for giving us the joy of eating nature's pure food.

Boil to soften for 30 minutes

Cook the shoots mixed with coconut milk, Belacan paste (pounded with dried prawns, red chillies and onions) for about 15 minutes

Served hot with rice and salted fish

Today's hightlight at the park

Pinang Lakka - Sealing Wax Palm (Cyrtostachys renda)
Location : Provinsi Lakka, Zone F

Canna Hybrid
Location : Butterfly Garden, Zone C

Heliconia 'Sexy Pink'
Location : Provinsi Lady Palm, Zone C

Sepenuh (Malay) - Proiphys amboinensis
Location : Zone C

Yellow Bamboo - Schizostachyum brachycladum
Location : Botanic Walk, Zone E

Today's klikz

Schizostachyum brachycladum - yellow variety native to Borneo or Sarawak

Gardenia jasminoides - Bunga Cina (Malay), Cape Jasmine
Syn : Gardenia augusta, G.florida

View of plane taking off about 1 km away from the park
Location : Zone I

Sunset view from Zone I

Between a Monocot and a Dicot

Bamboo species at the background, Jering trunk at the foreground.
Bamboo = Monocotyledon (monocot)
Jering = Dicotyledon (dicot)
Location : Zone G

 In the classification of the plant world or kingdom, plants bearing seeds are divided into two main categories- Gymnosperms (seed plants without flowers e.g. cycads, conifers); and Angiosperms (seed plants with flowers).  The Angiosperms are divided into Monocotyledon (monocot) and Dicotyledon (dicot).  Monocots are flowering plant with one seed leaf at germination stage and Dicots are flowering plants with two seed leaves.  In the above picture the Bamboo belongs to the monocots which have parallel-veined leaves as in the grasses, bamboos and palms.  In this group of plants new shoots are typicaclly produced from the base or rhizomes, tubers or bulbs.  Dicots on the other hand have veins that form a net-like pattern on the leaves.  Dicots typically have bark-cambium-wood organisation.  The Jering (Malay) - Pithecolobium lobatum is a good example of a dicot.

Nibong (Malay) - a palm that grows wild at Zone C
Family : Palmae - Palm family
A monocot example

Bamboo shoot as energy metaphor

Yellow Bamboo - Schizostachyum brachycladum
This  bamboo is  native to Borneo

 You need to be an artist to recognize the energy power of the bamboo shoot.  Bamboos belong to the grass family (Gramineae) from which the big family is divided into two sub-amilies :- bamboos and bamboo grasses.  The are many clumps of this yellow bamboo grown at the park.  It is interesting to notice that its young shoot has to thrust itself from below the ground to gradually stand straight. From this raw power when noticed young in a few species are the edible shoots.  These are severed from the main clump, cut and cooked thus providing us with energy.  More significantly however is how Latiff Mohidin , a Malaysia artist sees in bamboo shoot  the energy metaphor.

"Stupas" by Latiff Mohidin
Ink, 13.5 x 8.5 cm ( Bangkok, 1964)

 For Latiff Mohidin, the bamboo shoot provided a natural motif symbolizing much energy.  In a series of  early artworks done in Bangkok in the early 1960's, he captured the energy movement in creative expression and the transformation that ensued in his studies called the 'Pago-Pago' series.  His use of earthly colours helped re-enforced the natural dynamics of the metamorphosis process.  The painting in mixed media entitled 'Pago-Pago' is iconic of Latiff Mohidin's interpretation of the bamboo shoot as metamphor for the energy movement or process in creative expression and transformation.

Top : Metamorphosis 1 ( Ink on Graph Paper, 7.5 x 16 cm ; Bangkok, 1964)
Bottom : Metamorphosis 2 ( Mixed media, 12.5 x 23cm; Bangkok, 1965)

Pago-Pago ( Mixed media, 26 x 18.5 cm; Bangkok, 1964)

(Note: All the illustrations above are taken from the book,"Line - from point to point , Latiff Mohidin) , published by Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka, Kuala Lumpur, 1993)