Bamboo pith

Bamboo pith, known in Chinese as zhu sun ("bamboo shoot" of the fungus world), is the dried fruiting body of the bamboo fungus, a lacy-veiled stinkhorn that grows in bamboo groves. Sold as pale, hollow, netted tubes that rehydrate into a spongy, crunchy lattice, it is a prized banquet ingredient valued far more for its silky-crisp texture and its ability to drink up broth than for any strong flavour of its own — a distinct dried "stem" ingredient not to be confused with the fresh bamboo shoot.