The Mizoram bamboo shoot economy: preserving a taste that travels

The fermented bamboo shoot of Mizoram — sour, funky, and the secret layer in a hundred regional dishes — is being preserved for the market: canned, jarred and shipped to the diaspora.

The processing units, run by women’s cooperatives, have standardised the fermentation and the hygiene without flattening the flavour.

Chefs in Delhi and London are discovering what Mizoram always knew: bamboo shoot is the region’s umami.