Bamboo Shoots Simmered in Bonito Flakes (Takenoko no Tosani)

Bamboo Shoots Simmered in Bonito Flakes is a typical spring dish. It celebrates the bamboo shoots and the rich flavour of bonito flakes. The sweetness of the simmering broth is reduced to bring out the flavour of soy sauce and bonito flakes.

This is the last bamboo shoot dish that I mentioned in my post How to Prepare Fresh Bamboo Shoots about 10 months ago and it’s equally simple to make as the other bamboo shoot dishes.

It is best to use fresh bamboo shoots and boil them (hence a spring dish), but you can use pre-boiled bamboo shoots like the ones I used in this recipe.

About Tosani

The dishes simmered in plenty of bonito flakes are generically called ‘tosani’ (土佐煮). This is because bonito is deeply associated with Kōchi prefecture, which used to be called Tosa.

The dishes and seasonings/dressings whose flavour is enhanced by bonito flakes is named with the word ‘tosa’ (土佐) at the beginning. To name a few:

• Tosazu – vinegar-based dressing with bonito flakes.
• Tosa Shōyu – Soy sauce with bonito flakes, sake, and mirin.
• Tosani – today’s dish.
• Tosa-ae – ingredients dressed in bonito flakes.
• Tosa-age – deep-fried food coated in bonito flakes.

In addition to bamboo shoots, the ingredients commonly used in Tosani include burdock, konnyaku, daikon, and Japanese butterbur. The name of the dish in Japanese is made up of the name of the main ingredient followed by Tosani, like today’s dish, Takenoko no Tosani (筍の土佐煮), where ‘takenoko (筍)’ means bamboo shoots.

If you make tosani with burdock, it becomes ‘gobō no tosani‘ (牛蒡の土佐煮). But among the Tosani, bamboo shoots are by far the most popular ingredient.

What’s in My Bamboo Shoots Simmered in Bonito Flakes (Takenoko no Tosani)

• Boiled bamboo shoots
• Bonito flakes
• Dashi stock
• Soy sauce
• Cooking sake
• Mirin.

You can buy vacuum sealed boiled bamboo shoots at Japanese/Asian grocery stores like these in the photo below, which I used today.

But if you can get fresh bamboo shoots with skins on, that would be the best because the flavour of the bamboo shoots is much better. If you are using uncooked bamboo shoots, my post How to Prepare Fresh Bamboo Shoots shows you how to boil bamboo shoots.

If you can only find thin spear-shaped bamboo shoots, that’s OK too. But you need to cut these bamboos differently, as you can see in the photo below.

I used 3 small packs of bonito flakes that weighed 9g in total, but if you have a large pack of bonito flakes, just take out 9-10g of bonito flakes.

Some recipes use water instead of dashi stock since bonito flakes is the base ingredient of dashi stock. But you’d need to use more bonito flakes to make the similar flavour of Tosani, if you are using water.

How to make Bamboo Shoots Simmered in Bonito Flakes (Takenoko no Tosani)

The process of making Takenoko no Tosani is very simple. Cut the bamboo shoots into bite-size pieces and cook.

1. Put all the ingredients, excluding bonito flakes, in a pot and bring it to a boil.
2. Reduce the heat, place a drop lid on, and cook for 10 minutes.
3. Remove the drop lid, add the bonito flakes, and cook for about 5 minutes.

You will have a bit of simmering broth left in the pot. If you have time, let it cool down, then reheat before serving – although Takenoko no Tosani is delicious even without heating up. While cooling down, the bamboo shoots absorb the good flavour of the broth.

You can keep Takenoko no Tosani for a few days in the fridge. The bamboo shoot pieces become a bit darker as they absorbs the broth while in the fridge.

Takenoko no Tosani is a spring dish as mentioned in the beginning, but I make it all year round using vacuum sealed boiled bamboo shoots. I like the not-so-sweet flavour of the simmered bamboo shoots, which makes the dish perfect even as nibbles to go with drinks.

Yumiko

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Bamboo Shoots Simmered in Bonito Flakes (Takenoko no Tosani)

Prep Time

5 mins

Cook Time

20 mins

Total Time

25 mins

 

Bamboo Shoots Simmered in Bonito Flakes (Takenoko no Tosani) is a typical spring dish. It celebrates the bamboo shoots and the rich flavour of bonito flakes. The sweetness of the simmering broth is reduced to bring out the flavour of soy sauce and bonito flakes.

Takenoko no Tosani is a side dish but also goes well with drinks as a nibble.

Don't forget to see the section 'MEAL IDEAS' below the recipe card! It gives you a list of dishes that I have already posted and this recipe that can make up a complete meal. I hope it is of help to you.

Recipe Type: Side

Cuisine: Japanese

Keyword: bamboo shoots recipes, simmered bamboo shoots

Serves: 4

Author: Yumiko

Ingredients (tbsp=15ml, cup=250ml)

• 400g/0.9lb boiled bamboo shoots (note 1)
• 10g/0.4oz bonito flakes (approximate amount, note 2)
• 300ml/10.1 fl oz dashi stock (note 3)
• 1 tbsp soy sauce
• 1 tbsp mirin
• 1 tbsp cooking sake

Instructions

1. Cut the tip at 5cm/2” from the top of each bamboo shoot. Halve the tip vertically and quarter each half into wedges.

2. Quarter the bottom part of the bamboo shoot vertically, then slice each quarter perpendicular to the first cut, into 1cm/⅜" thick pieces.

3. Put all the ingredients, excluding bonito flakes, in a pot and bring it to a boil.

4. Reduce the heat to medium low, place a drop lid on and cook for about 10 minutes.

5. Remove the drop lid and add the bonito flakes to the pot.

6. Mix it to let the bonito flakes submerge in the broth and cook for further 5 minutes (note 4).

7. If you have time, let the pot cool down so that the bamboo shoots absorb more flavours from the broth, then heat it up again.

8. Serve bamboo shoot pieces with bonito flakes and some simmering broth in a bowl individually or to share.

Recipe Notes

1. I used vacuum packed boiled bamboo shoots, but it is best to use fresh bamboo shoot if available. Boil your fresh bamboo shoots as per my recipe, How to Prepare Fresh Bamboo Shoots.

You can buy pre-boiled bamboo shoots (preferably thick and short Japanese bamboo shoots like mine) at Japanese/Asian grocery stores.

You can also use thin spear-shaped bamboo shoots, although you need to cut the bamboo shoots differently. See the sample dish in the post.

2. I used 3 x 3g/0.1oz pack of bonito flakes. You can of course weigh bonito flakes from a large bag.

3. If you don’t have dashi stock but plenty of bonito flakes, you can use water and increase the quantity of bonito flakes by 50-100%.

4. The broth should not be reduced too much. There should be enough simmering broth to pour over the bamboo shoots when serving.

5. You can keep Takenoko no Tosani for a few days in the fridge.

6. Nutrition per serving.

serving: 188g calories: 54kcal fat: 1.1g (1%) saturated fat: 0.3g (1%) trans fat: 0.0g polyunsaturated fat: 0.3g monounsaturated fat: 0.2g cholesterol: 4.5mg (2%) sodium: 518mg (23%) carbohydrates: 5.3g (2%) dietary fibre: 1.4g (5%) sugar: 3.5g protein: 5.3g vitamin D: 0mcg (0%) calcium: 16mg (1%) iron: 0.5mg (3%) potassium: 242mg (5 %)