Fresh bamboo for supper?

Boing Boing TV is a daily internet video program that decided to celebrate its 150th episode by showing how to harvest young bamboo shoots. The video was done by Joi Ito (original music by Ryuichi Sakamoto). Ito is in his "backyard" in Japan -- it looks like a bamboo forest, with his partner, Mizuka.

Click on the 7-minute video above for a fascinating look at this Japanese spring ritual, which includes a cooking lesson. Ito uses his grandmother's recipe to boil the shoots, then peels off the outer layers (this process has an artichoke stripping quality) until he gets to the center. The video will make you want to run out and find fresh shoots on a menu.

Food section contributor Deb Samuels, our authority on Japanese food, says fresh bamboo shoots are very big in Japan, something everybody waits for, and any good Japanese restaurant should have them.