Chinese toon shoots

Pousses de cédrèle

What it is

The shoots come from a tree in the mahogany family, picked red and young in a window of about three weeks around Qingming, after which the aroma coarsens and the price collapses. Older shoots also accumulate nitrite, which is the practical reason every Chinese recipe begins by blanching them rather than a matter of taste.

In the kitchen

Thirty seconds in boiling water first — it fixes the colour to bright green and removes most of the nitrite — then chop fine and fold into beaten egg at the last moment. It is an aromatic, not a vegetable: fifty grams will season six eggs, and more than that turns the dish medicinal.

Goes with

Egg Toasted sesame oil Salt Silken tofu (kinugoshi) Chili pepper Soy sauce

In season alongside

Bagnoli truffle Bianchetto truffle Musky truffle Crottin de Chavignol

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