Ode to a Bamboo Shoot

O Bamboo Shoot (Také no ko;
In Japanese, which you should know)
You are so small and seem so shy
So why so tasty, I ask: Why?

Your fluted crunchiness invites
A perfect mouthful of two bites.
Your parents with their sky-high stalks
Would never taste as good, in woks

Of coconut sauce, basil, too
All steeping in a spicy stew
With chicken or some wondrous fish
Your crunch and zest my hungry wish

You try to hide, in sauce submersed
But I just want to eat you first.
O Bamboo Shoot, your fate is sealed
In “Kaeng Phet” your crunch, revealed.

So do not try to hide away
And skulk within some bland Satay
It’s I who loves your juicy crunch.
Upon your munchy crispness lunch.

Please save a chile, garlic too
But no brave sauce can live sans you
O Bamboo Shoot who strives to hide
You must reveal the love inside.