Everything about Taro totally explained
Taro (from
Tahitian or other
Polynesian languages), more rarely
kalo (from
Hawaiian), is a tropical plant grown primarily as a
vegetable food for its edible
corm, and secondarily as a
leaf vegetable. It is considered a staple in
oceanic cultures. It is believed to be one of the earliest cultivated plants. Taro is closely related to
Xanthosoma and
Caladium, plants commonly grown as
ornamentals, and like them it's sometimes loosely called
elephant ear. In its raw form the plant is toxic due to the presence of
calcium oxalate, although the toxin is destroyed by cooking or can be removed by steeping taro roots in cold water overnight.
Names and origin
Taro was probably first native to the lowland
wetlands of
Malaysia (taloes). Estimates are that taro was in cultivation in wet tropical
India before 5000 B.C., presumably coming from Malaysia, and from India further transported westward to ancient
Egypt, where it was described by
Greek and
Roman historians as an important crop.
Taro's scientific name is
Colocasia esculenta (synonym
C. antiquorum);
esculent is an English word taken directly from Latin and means edible. The
Xanthosoma genus is closely related, and several common names including
callaloo and
coco or
cocoyam are used to refer to either Taro or domesticated
Xanthosoma species which share substantially the same uses. Taro may be distinguished as "taro cocoyam" or "old cocoyam", with the term "new cocoyam" referring to species of
Xanthosoma.
In
Kenya, taro root is referred to as
arrow root, or by the
Kikuyu word
ndŭma. In
South Africa, it referred to by the
Zulu word
amaDumbe or the anglicised
madumbi. In some
Caribbean countries, it's sometimes known as
dasheen, a name said to be derived from the French
de Chine which means
from China and evokes the plant's
Asian origins. The leaves are used to make a soup popular in the
West Indies, called
kallaloo soup. In
Cyprus it's known as
kolokassi, which is similar to the name the Romans used:
colocasia. Taro is also known as
dalo In the
Fijian Islands and in Japan as
satoimo.
Eddoe is another name for taro, although this one seems to be preferentially used to designate small corm varieties.
Uses
The small round variety is
peeled and boiled, sold either
frozen, bagged in its own liquids, or
canned. The plant is actually inedible when raw because of needle-shaped
raphides in the plant cells.
Typical of leaf vegetables, taro leaves are rich in
vitamins and
minerals. They are a good source of
thiamin,
riboflavin,
iron,
phosphorus, and
zinc, and a very good source of
vitamin B6,
vitamin C,
niacin,
potassium,
copper, and
manganese. Taro corms are very high in
starch, and are a good source of
dietary fiber.
Oxalic acid may be present in the corm and especially in the leaf, and these foods should be eaten with milk or other foods rich in calcium so as to remove the risks posed by ingesting the oxalate ion, especially for people with
kidney disorders,
gout, or
rheumatoid arthritis. Calcium reacts with the oxalate to form calcium oxalate which is very insoluble.
Romans
Taro was used by the early Romans in much the same way the potato would later be used by Europeans. They called this root vegetable
colocasia.
Apicius mentions several methods for preparing taro. The text of Apicius seems to imply that the usual cooking method was to boil taro in water. Apicius suggests that a sauce be made from pepper, cumin, rue, vinegar, oil and
liquamen to be served with chopped pieces of boiled taro. Apicius also mentions recipes in which pieces of taro are cooked along with meat or fowl, similar to the manner in which potatoes are now used in European meat dishes. After the fall of the Roman Empire, the use of taro gradually ceased in Europe. This was largely due to the decline of trade and commerce, as most of the taro used throughout the Roman Empire had been grown and exported from Egypt.
South Asia
Taro is extensively used in
South Asia. In
South India's
Kerala state, it's used as a staple food, as a side dish, or as a component in various side dishes. As a staple food it's steamed, and eaten with a
chutney of green pepper and shallot onions. The leaves and stems of certain varieties of taro are used as a vegetable in Kerala. A tree-growing variety of taro is extensively used in the western coast of India to make "patrade" or "patrada", literally "leaf-pancake". These are either made like fritters, or are steamed and eaten. In another South Indian state,
Andhra Pradesh, taro corms are known as 'chamagadda' and can be cooked in many ways, deep fried in oil for a side item with rice, or cooked in a tangy tamarind sauce with spices, onion and tomato. In the Indian state of
Gujarat it's used to make
patra, a dish with the leaves of the plant prepared with tamarind and other spices.
In
Nepal, it's considered a health food with a variety of cooking styles. The most common style is boiling it in salty water in iron cooking pots until it becomes like porridge. Another style is to steam the young leaves called 'gava', sun-dry and then store it for later use. For another variety, the taro leaves and stems are used raw as an ingredient for pickles. The leaves and stems are mixed with black lentils and then dried as small balls and used later on. The stems are also sun-dried and stored for later use. On one special day, women worship 'saptarshi' (seven sages) and have rice with taro leaf vegetable only.
China and Hong Kong
Taro is commonly used within
Chinese cuisine in a variety of styles, mainly as a flavor enhancing ingredient. It is commonly braised with pork or beef. It is used in the
dim sum cuisine of southern China to make a small plated dish called
taro dumpling, as well as a pan-fried dish called
taro cake. It is also woven to form a
seafood birdsnest. The taro cake is also a delicacy traditionally eaten during the
Chinese New Year. In desserts it's used in
tong sui,
bubble tea, and as a flavoring in ice cream.
West Africa
Taro is consumed as a staple crop in West Africa, particularly in
Nigeria and
Cameroon. It is called
cocoyam in
Nigeria,
Ghana and Anglophone
Cameroon. It is called
macabo in Francophone
Cameroon.
Japan and Taiwan
In
Japan and
Taiwan,
supermarket varieties range from about the size and shape of a
brussels sprout to longer, larger varieties the size of an adult male's fist. Taro chips are often used as a potato chip-like snack. Compared to potato chips, taro chips are harder and have a more assertive nutty flavor. They are generally made from upland taro because of their lower moisture.
South Korea
In South Korea, it's called
toran (토란) meaning "egg from earth", and the corm is stewed and the leaf stem is stir-fried. Taro roots can be used for medicinal purposes, particularly for curing insect bites.
Vietnam
In Vietnam, where taro is called
khoai môn or
khoai sọ, it's used as a filling in
spring rolls, cakes, puddings, soups and other desserts.
United States
In
Hawaii, taro is a traditional staple, as in many tropical areas of the world, and is the base for making
poi. In
Chinatowns, people often use taro in
Chinese cuisine, though it isn't consumed or popularized nearly as much as in Asian and Pacific nations. Since the late 20th century, taro chips have been available in many supermarkets and natural food stores. In the 1920's, dasheen, as it was known, was highly touted by the Secretary of the Florida Department of Agriculture as a valuable crop for growth in muck fields. Fellsmere, Florida, near the east coast, was a farming area deemed perfect for growing dasheen. It was used in place of potatoes and dried to make flour. Dasheen flour was said to make excellent pancakes when mixed with wheat flour.
Philippines
In the Philippines, taro is called
gabi. A popular rendition of the taro is
Laing
(pronounced /lah - ing/) which originates from the Bicol region in Southern Luzon. The dish's main ingredients are
taro stem and leaf cooked in coconut milk, salted with fermented shrimp or fish
bagoong. It is also heavily spiced with red hot chilis called "sili'ng labuyo."
Another dish where taro finds common use in the Filipino kitchen is the Philippine national stew of
Sinigang. This sour stew has versions for pork/beef and fish. It is the Pork Sinigang where peeled and diced Taro root is a basic ingredient.
Finally, the third most common use of taro in the Filipino diet is in "Ginataan" literally meaning "cooked with coconut milk." This form of dessert where coconut milk and taro is combined along with indigenous ingredients such as sago and jackfruit is shared throughout the Indochinese and Southeast Asian regions.
West Indies
Taro is called Dasheen in the
West Indies is cultivated and consumed as a staple crop in the region.
Turkey
Taro is grown in the south coast of Turkey, especially in Mersin and Antalya. It is boiled in a tomato sauce or cooked with meat, beans and chickpeas.
Cyprus
In Cyprus, taro has been in use since the time of the Roman Empire. Today it's known as "kolokassi" which is similar to the name the Romans used:
colocasia. It is usually stewed with celery (and sometimes meat) in a tomato sauce.
Cultivation
Taro can be grown in
paddy fields or in upland situations where watering is supplied by rainfall or by supplemental irrigation. Some varieties of taro can also be grown away from the tropics.
Hawaii
Taro is usually grown in pondfields called
loi in Hawaiian. The picture below shows several small
loi in
Maunawili Valley on
Oahu. The ditch on the left in the picture is called an
auwai and supplies diverted stream water to the
loi. Cool, flowing water yields the best crop. Some of the taro plants in the foreground have been harvested and the caretakers are preparing to replant the
huli stacked at their feet. These are the top portion of the corm with a short piece of bladeless leafstem.
Typical dryland or upland varieties (varieties grown in watered but not flooded fields) in Hawaii are
lehua maoli and
bun long, the latter widely known as Chinese taro.
Bun long is used for making taro chips.
Dasheen (also called "eddo") is another "dryland" variety of
C. esculenta grown for its edible corms or sometimes just as an ornamental plant.
The Hawaii Agricultural Statistics Service puts the 10-year median production of taro in the Hawaiian Islands at about 6.1 million pounds (2,800 t; Viotti, 2004). However, 2003 taro production in Hawaii was only 5 million pounds (2,300 t), an all-time low (record keeping started in 1946). The previous low, reached in 1997, was 5.5 million pounds (2,500 t). Yet, despite generally growing demand, production was even lower in 2005: only 4 million pounds, with
kalo for processing into
poi accounting for 97.5%. Urbanization has driven down harvests from a high of 14.1 million pounds (6,400 t) in 1948. But more recently the decline has resulted from pests and diseases. A non-native
apple snail (
Pomacea canaliculata) is a major culprit in the current crop declines. Also, a plant rot disease, traced to a newly identified species of the
fungal genus,
Phytophthora, now plagues crops throughout the state. Although pesticides could control both pests to some extent, pesticide use in the pondfields is barred because of the clear opportunity for chemicals to quickly migrate into streams and then into the ocean.
In early April 2008, the Hawaiian House Agriculture Committee voted 9-3 to send a bill to the full house that would put a 5 year moratorium on genetic modification of taro in Hawaii. This moratorium would only apply to Hawaiian varieties of taro, thereby allowing genetic alteration of non-native species. This would include possible alteration to Chinese varieties, which are currently being grown in Hawaii, giving rise to an opportunity for cross-pollination.
Fiji
Although taro has been a staple of the Fijian diet for centuries, its growth as a commercial crop can be said to have begun in 1993 when the taro leaf blight decimated the taro industry in neighboring Samoa. Fiji filled the void and was soon supplying taro to the large Polynesian populations of New Zealand, Australia, and Los Angeles in the United States.
Almost 80% of Fiji's exported taro comes from the Island of
Taveuni.
Currently, the Fijian taro industry is under threat from the taro beetle, with the Land Resources Division of the Secretariat of the Pacific Community (SPC) conducting research into how best to control this pest.
Puerto Rico
In Puerto Rico it's used in stews, soups and as a potato. It is used in local Puerto Rican dishes such as
pasteles,
alcapurria,
sancocho and
mondongo. In pasteles, taro is ground with green bananas, plantains into a dough-like fluid paste containing pork, ham and boiled in a banana leaf or paper wrapper. In alcapurrias, it's also ground with green bananas and made into fried croquets containing ground beef or the chopped ham and fresh pork mix used in pasteles. The sancocho and mondongo dishes are soups.
Further Information
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