How to Make Mang Ot Ngam (Sweet and Sour Pickled Bamboo Shoots)
Vietnamese dishesPickles and PreservesNorthern Vietnam45 minutes of prep, ready to eat after 1 day
Any household that eats a lot of noodle soup has a use for sweet and sour pickled bamboo shoots. The shoots stay crunchy and the brine is sour, sweet, hot and fragrant with garlic. The hard part is boiling the shoots clean of their raw edge.
The shoots boil uncovered, five minutes past boiling point, then get fresh water and go through the same round 2 to 3 times. The garlic and chili split into two parts: sliced pieces layered between the shoots, and the rest blended into the brine.
This batch weighs about 3.3kg, at roughly 27 calories per 100g.
Method
Trim off the tough outer layer and the woody base of the bamboo shoots, then slice them thinly or cut them into batons 5 to 6cm long and about 1cm thick.
Rinse the shoots, put them in a pot, cover with water, add 1 tablespoon coarse salt and boil uncovered. Once boiling, cook for another 5 minutes, drain, change the water and repeat the round 2 to 3 times. Drain in a colander.
Divide the garlic and chili in two. For the sliced part, take about 5 large garlic cloves and 2 red horn chilies cut on the diagonal for looks. Mince and then blend the rest, seeding the chilies first.
Mix the brine from 900ml vinegar, 180ml fish sauce, 720g kOBE Monk Fruit Blend and 84g coarse salt. Bring it to a boil, skim the foam so it stays clear, simmer for another 2 minutes, then turn off the heat and cool.
When the brine is nearly cool, stir in the blended garlic and chili.
Layer the jar with bamboo shoots and then sliced garlic and chili until everything is used, and finally pour over the brine to cover. Weight it down with bamboo slats or a sealed bag of water and close the lid. It is ready after 1 day.
Tips
Boiling uncovered, 2 to 3 times over, cleans the shoots without breaking them down.
Moving the jar to the fridge after the first day keeps the shoots crisp for about a week.
Seeding the chilies before blending keeps the brine clear rather than cloudy.
Skimming the foam while the brine cooks keeps it clear, and it needs to cool fully before it goes into the jar.
Bamboo slats or a bag of water keep the shoots pressed under the surface of the brine.
The blended garlic and chili go in once the brine is nearly cool, as hot brine yellows the garlic and turns it harsh.
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The recipe above is sweetened with kOBE Monk Fruit Blend, measured 1:1 like sugar. See the product page or send us a message.