Do you know that there is edible bamboo?

It’s not just pandas that can eat bamboo, we can too!

But not all bamboo can be eaten, you know. Let me introduce you to “rebung”!

Rebung is the shoots or sprouts of bamboo. It is commonly served as a vegetable in Indonesia and even in Asia! Rebung has a sweet taste and a crunchy texture.

Some types of bamboo that produce edible shoots are bamboo betung (Dendrocalamus asper), bamboo apus/tali (Gigantochloa apus), bamboo wulung/hitam (Gigantochloa atroviolacea), bamboo ater/jawa (Gigantochloa atter), bamboo gombong/surat (Gigantochloa pseudoarundinacea), bamboo ampel (Bambusa vulgaris), and bamboo kuning/gading (Bambusa vulgaris var. striata).

Rebung can be used to prepare various types of food. For example, in Semarang, rebung is used as a filling for lumpia. Additionally, rebung can be made into chips, fermented, or used as an ingredient in other dishes. In North Sumatra, particularly in Tapanuli, rebung is often consumed mixed with pork or arsik fish dishes.

For those of you who want to experience eating rebung, you can try it at Kapal Bambu Resto. They offer a menu called “Jungle Food” which includes dishes with rebung. So, are you interested in trying rebung?