Braised Spring Bamboo Shoots (油焖笋)

As spring fever rushes in, spring bamboo shoots are hitting local grocery stores and wet markets across China. I grew up in China and have lived in China for three years–you can really see the seasons change at the markets! Most Northerners or bei fang ren (北方人) like to use spring bamboo for soups, stir-fries, or braised with pork–all excellent applications for fresh bamboo shoots in season. But for we Shanghainese, we tend to revert to our usual method of cooking: “red-cooked”, i.e. hong shao, 红烧 for those in the know!