Taro
Colocasia esculenta
Taro is a starchy root vegetable which grows in wet or swampy ground. It has large ‘elephant ear’ leaves. The corms must always be peeled and cooked before eating to remove the calcium oxylate they contain. Taro leaves are poisonous if eaten raw, so cook them well before consumption.
Taro can be cooked in many ways – boiled, baked or fried. Compared to potato, taro has double the fiber content and contains less fat. It can be grown from late November to late March in the subtropics.
Health benefits
- Improves gut health
- Assists in reducing cholesterol
- Improves skin
- Improves vision
In a serving size (1 cup or 104 g of taro):
- Energy 485kJ
- Protein 1.6g
- Fat 0.2g
- Carbs 27.5g
- Fiber 4.3g
- Vitamin C 4.7mg
- Vitamin E 2.5μg
- Potassium 614.6mg
- Magnesium 34.3mg
Crispy Taro Fritters
Prep time: 10 Minutes
Cook time: 25 Minutes
Total time: 35 Minutes
Ingredients
- 4 medium-sized taro (peeled and diced)
- 2 tbsp tamari (or soy sauce)
- 1 tbsp mirin (or sub 1 teaspoon any other sweetener)
- Salt
- Pepper
- Few tbsp cornstarch
- 2 tbsp oil
Method
- Boil or steam the taro for 10-15 minutes until soft enough to easily pierce with a fork.
- Drain away the cooking water and add soy sauce, mirin and salt and pepper. Mash with a fork until smooth.
- Sprinkle the cornstarch onto a plate. Form the mash into small patties and evenly coat each of them with the cornstarch.
- Heat up the oil in a frying pan and add the cornstarch-coated patties once hot.
- Fry on a medium heat for around 10 minutes, turning over halfway through, until both sides are crispy and golden brown.
Root Vegetable Curry
From NSCF’s Share Cookbook p25
Ingredients
- 2kg root vegetables in season (taro, potato, sweet potato, cassava, Queensland arrowroot, turnip, parsnip, yacon)
- 500g green vegetables in season (chinese cabbage, ibeka, kang kong, amaranth, mustard greens, spinach, cabbage, warrigal greens)
- 2 onions
- 2 cloves garlic
- 3 fresh chillies
- 2 tsp fish sauce or oyster sauce
- ½ tsp ground turmeric
- 2 cups coconut milk
- Salt and pepper to taste
- Juice of 1 lime
Method
- Peel the root vegetables and chop into 2cm cubes.
- Slice the onion and garlic finely; de-seed the chillies and chop finely; and coarsely chop the green vegetables.
- Bring 2 liters of water to the boil in a large saucepan.
- Add the arrowroot and boil for 5 minutes. Add the potato and taro and return water to the boil.
- After a further 10 minutes, add sweet potato and cassava and boil for a further 5 minutes.
- Drain water. Add onion, garlic, chillies, fish sauce turmeric and coconut milk.
- Bring to a simmer and cook for 5 minutes, stirring regularly. Add salt.
- Add the chopped green vegetables and cook for a further 3 minutes.
- Remove from the heat and add the lime juice.
- Serve with rice.
