High-fiber and low calorie bamboo shoots are in season, the Council of Agriculture (COA) said yesterday, encouraging consumers to savor them during the hot summer months.
Bamboo shoots are mostly grown in the northern part of the country, where they are planted atop hills up to 500m above sea level, said Lee Chuang-ming (李窗明), a spokesperson for the council’s Taoyuan district agricultural research and extension station, adding that out of the 7,000-odd hectares of bamboo shoot plantation, about 5,000 are in northern regions.
These include Taipei County’s Wugu (五股), Bali (八里) and Sansia (三峽) townships, Taipei City’s Shilin (士林) and Muzha (木柵) districts, as well as Taoyuan’s Fuhsing (復興) and Dasi (大溪) townships, he said.
“At 27 calories and 2.2g of fiber [of a recommended daily intake of 20g] per 100g, bamboo shoots provide a light, good food source in summer, especially when they are chilled and sliced after cooking,” Lee said.
“Fibrous bamboo shoot can also balance out fats contained in contemporary diets,” he said.
When selecting good bamboo shoots, people should choose the ones that have no greenness on the surface and those with a larger “base,” Lee said.
“As a defense mechanism to avoid being eaten by animals, bamboo shoots turn bitter when they break the soil, which is a result of being in contact with the sun. Choosing bamboo shoots that do not have any greenness ensures they will be sweeter,” he said.
A shoot with a broader base also means that it contains more edible parts, Lee said.
“As a rule of thumb, choose ones that are short and stout,” he said.
Alain Robert, known as the "French Spider-Man," praised Alex Honnold as exceptionally well-prepared after the US climber completed a free solo ascent of Taipei 101 yesterday. Robert said Honnold's ascent of the 508m-tall skyscraper in just more than one-and-a-half hours without using safety ropes or equipment was a remarkable achievement. "This is my life," he said in an interview conducted in French, adding that he liked the feeling of being "on the edge of danger." The 63-year-old Frenchman climbed Taipei 101 using ropes in December 2004, taking about four hours to reach the top. On a one-to-10 scale of difficulty, Robert said Taipei 101
Nipah virus infection is to be officially listed as a category 5 notifiable infectious disease in Taiwan in March, while clinical treatment guidelines are being formulated, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said yesterday. With Nipah infections being reported in other countries and considering its relatively high fatality rate, the centers on Jan. 16 announced that it would be listed as a notifiable infectious disease to bolster the nation’s systematic early warning system and increase public awareness, the CDC said. Bangladesh reported four fatal cases last year in separate districts, with three linked to raw date palm sap consumption, CDC Epidemic Intelligence
US climber Alex Honnold left Taiwan this morning a day after completing a free-solo ascent of Taipei 101, a feat that drew cheers from onlookers and gained widespread international attention. Honnold yesterday scaled the 101-story skyscraper without a rope or safety harness. The climb — the highest urban free-solo ascent ever attempted — took just more than 90 minutes and was streamed live on Netflix. It was covered by major international news outlets including CNN, the New York Times, the Guardian and the Wall Street Journal. As Honnold prepared to leave Taiwan today, he attracted a crowd when he and his wife, Sanni,
Taiwanese and US defense groups are collaborating to introduce deployable, semi-autonomous manufacturing systems for drones and components in a boost to the nation’s supply chain resilience. Taiwan’s G-Tech Optroelectronics Corp subsidiary GTOC and the US’ Aerkomm Inc on Friday announced an agreement with fellow US-based Firestorm Lab to adopt the latter’s xCell, a technology featuring 3D printers fitted in 6.1m container units. The systems enable aerial platforms and parts to be produced in high volumes from dispersed nodes capable of rapid redeployment, to minimize the risk of enemy strikes and to meet field requirements, they said. Firestorm chief technology officer Ian Muceus said
RSS