Taro Cake

[tissue]

Some people like the creaminess of taro in their desserts like in ice cream or soup.

I like taro in pancake form, much like the daikon pancakes in dim sum.

Others can't stand it. Hate the starchiness.

[herbacidal]

i like them as a fried cake like in dimsum.

i like them in ice cream.

i also like them as a dinner dish, cooked for a long time till mushy, with lap chong.

I like them in a box, I like them with a fox.

[margaret]

I like it both ways, but lately I've become pathetically addicted to sweet taro bubble tea.

I also like it in Japanese nimono - so sticky.

Taro also suppposedly has incredible nutritional value. There's a village in Japan where the traditional diet is based around starches like taro instead of rice, and the people living there tend to live incredibly long, healthy lives and show delayed signs of aging. All attributed to the kind of carbohydrate in taro and other similar roots.

[torakris]

I agree with Margaret, taro is especially good with simmered (nimono) style foods.

I haven't seen them in dessert form in Japan yet, but then again I haven't eaten everything! and I tend to prefer western sweets.

[tissue]

I like it both ways, but lately I've become pathetically addicted to sweet taro bubble tea.

I also like it in Japanese nimono - so sticky. 

Taro also suppposedly has incredible nutritional value. There's a village in Japan where the traditional diet is based around starches like taro instead of rice, and the people living there tend to live incredibly long, healthy lives and show delayed signs of aging. All attributed to the kind of carbohydrate in taro and other similar roots.

Is the village in Hokkaido?

[margaret]

Here's a link to an article about the town, about two hours outside of Tokyo: http://abcnews.go.com/onair/2020/PRIMETIME...02_feature.html

[herbacidal]

never had it outside chinese food. been meaning to try it in hawaiian, poi and stuff.

okay, that's next, try it in japanese. dovetails nicely with latest japanese food kick.

before i ask nyc boards, any recommendations for places in nyc serving it, nimono and otherwise?

[newguy]

I've had truffled taro with a smoked filet of beef. I'm guessing it was cut with a little potato, but I could be wrong. The entire dish was outstanding.

I've also had taro sliced thin and fried, and used as a chip in a tuna tartare dish.

[margaret]

before i ask nyc boards, any recommendations for places in nyc serving it, nimono and otherwise?

I haven't ever had it out in a restaurant here in new york - usually just make it myself - but I would recommend checking out places that do more homestyle cooking, or else some izakaya (pub like environments). Perhaps someplace like Village Yokocho or Typhoon might have it, or else some of the smaller, less sushi-oriented places in midtown (i.e. Ise). Or maybe Natori on E. 7th?

Sorry I can't be more helpful. If you find it done well somewhere, please let me know.

One consideration, though: Taro is referred to as satoimo in Japanese.

[Akiko]

Okay,

I grew up eating satoimo... which I don't like because of the slimy sort of texture (but I love natto.. go figure) and I also grew up eating something Hawaiian called Poi.

And if you ask the Japanese what Satoimo is, they will say Taro.

And if you ask the Hawaiians what Poi is, they will say Taro.

BUT satoimo is not Poi and Poi is not Satoimo.... at least I can't imagine that they are the same things... they taste so different!

Can anyone explain?

[margaret]

I've never had Poi, so I'm probably not the best person to answer this, but I'm pretty sure they're different varieties of the same root, just prepared differently. Poi is the name of the dish; "kalo" is the Hawaiian word for taro.

[tissue]

taro is light purple with darker purple flecks, not white.

Edited March 14, 2003 by tissue (log)

[torakris]

taro has many varieties, the kalo used in Hawaii for poi (and taro chips) is quite large and purple.

The satoimo in Japan are small (golf abll size and a little bigger) and round to oval in shape, there is another variety in Japan that is called kyoimo that is bigger but longer, closer to the size of kalo but white in color.

My husband and I used to live on Maui and I had a hard time with poi the first couple of times but soon learned to love it!

[Suzanne F]

There are sweet uses? Oh, boy!!! I adore taro: taro chips, dim sum taro cakes (soft on the inside, crunchy on the outside), with boiled pork belly or in a casserole with Chinese sausages, as shoestring fries -- I've even used it as the basis for gnocchi. Never had it sweet, though. I'm going to have to look for it!

[herbacidal]

There are sweet uses?  Oh, boy!!!  I adore taro: taro chips, dim sum taro cakes (soft on the inside, crunchy on the outside),  with boiled pork belly or in a casserole with Chinese sausages, as shoestring fries -- I've even used it as the basis for gnocchi.  Never had it sweet, though.  I'm going to have to look for it!

you can get "ice cream bars" in asian grocery stores of taro.

also, there's a sweet soup with taro chunks in it that some chinese restaurants use. i think somebody mentioned that above.

i think

a casserole with Chinese sausages

is what i was referring to above. very tasty; like stews, it's better the more times you have to heat it (ie as leftovers).

taro fries and gnocchi is what is interesting to me. sounds really neat.

[Suzanne F]

I made the gnocchi pretty much the same as the usual potato version. They were a little heavier, which was not necessarily a bad thing; just not ethereal (not that mine ever are ).

For the fries, peel the taro, cut it into slices about 3 inches thick, then julienne it on a mandoline (Benriner works fine). Keep the taro in water until it's time to cook it. Then drain VERY WELL, dump it in hot oil, and there you go!

I get the taro and Chinese sausage casserole at Great NY Noodletown; it's one of their clay pot dishes.

[DavidJS]

I personally prefer taro flavored ice cream.

[tonkichi]

We call it yam.

Savoury dish:

1. Teochew style- diced and cooked with rice and soya sauce to go with Teochew braised duck.

2. Layer slices of taro and belly pork in a claypot and braise with fermented bean curd (home style dish, not usually found in restaurants)

Sweet (besides ice cream):a very rich Teochew dessert called "orh-nee". Finely grated yam is cooked with plenty of oil and syrup and then steamed into a thick sticky pudding. Garnished with gingko nuts and pumpkin. Very sweet, very rich, very fattening. Also very good.

[torakris]

I had some taro last night simmered with green beans in a soy-mirin sauce.

very good!

[trillium]

Sweet (besides ice cream):a very rich Teochew dessert called "orh-nee". Finely grated yam is cooked with plenty of oil and syrup and then steamed into a thick sticky pudding. Garnished with gingko nuts and pumpkin. Very sweet, very rich, very fattening. Also very good.

I think the oil is actually lard, no?

regards,

trillium

[tonkichi]

Sweet (besides ice cream):a very rich Teochew dessert called "orh-nee". Finely grated yam is cooked with plenty of oil and syrup and then steamed into a thick sticky pudding. Garnished with gingko nuts and pumpkin. Very sweet, very rich, very fattening. Also very good.

I think the oil is actually lard, no?

regards,

trillium

oh yes, the traditional recipe calls for lard. sadly, oil is considered the healthier alternative so most places have abandoned lard.

[Stone]

When I was in Chiang Mai, I went to a small place called, simply, Vegetarian Restaurant. It's in the Bible (i.e., Lonely Planet), near the prison. They had the best spring rolls I've every had. They tried to explain to my how to make it, but the language barrier couldn't be overcome. All I could get was that it ws a mixture of about half and half taro and mushroom.

[Pan]

I always thought the purple tubers were yams and taro was the white, starchy root the Malays call ubi kayu. But that's also called cassava and tapioca root. So I guess I've been confused?

For the record, taro green milk tea is my favorite bubble tea, and I also sometimes get taro ice cream at the Chinatown Ice Cream Factory, but my favorite flavors there are mango, coconut, and pineapple.

[hzrt8w]

This week I am experimenting with making taro cake (dim sum). BTW: daikon cake and taro cake can be made in a very similar way.

Many moons ago when I made daikon cake, I used regular rice flour only (jim mai fun). The cake patties turned out very stiff and the taste was a bit chalk-like.

Yesterday I made a taro cake. This time I only used sticky rice flour (noor mai fun). Actually, I learned from a website that I could use a blender to blend stick rice (grain) and water instead of using sticky rice flour. This time, the cake patties turned out very soft and the cake does not hold its form.

Has anybody made this before and would share some experience?

I think the next time I try this (either daikon cake or taro cake), I would mix regular rice flour with stick rice flour, 1 to 1. (May be blend regular rice with sticky rice with water.) This way the cake will stay soft but hold its form. And I will add some corn starch to smooth it out.

Daikon/taro to rice flour ratio (by weight): 2 or 3 lb to 1 lb

When I blended the sticky rice in with water:

Sticky rice to water ratio (by volume): about 1 cup to 2 cup.

The taste of the cake is about right (adding dried shrimp, black mushrooms, salt, soy sauce, sugar). Just the texture that challenges me.

[sheetz]

I've used this recipe with success in the past. The key to making it less dense and chalky is to partially cook the rice flour before steaming. See my comments at the end.

LOR BAK GO - TURNIP SQUARE

"Have Some Dim Sum" by Evelyn Chau

4 oz white rice flour

2 oz wheat flour

2 C daikon raddish, shredded

3 oz cured meat, finely diced

2 tbsp coriander

1 oz dried srimp, soaked, drained and coarsely chopped

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 tsp chicken stock powder

1/2 tsp sugar

1 1/2 C water

1. Cook the daikon in on cup of the water for 5 minutes.

2. Dissolve both flours in the remaining water.

3. Combine the daikon and its cooking water with the flour mixture.

4. Stir-fry the diced meat and the shrimp with salt, chicken boullion and sugar for a few minutes, then add it to the flour mixture.

5. Pour it into a deep glass dish or oiled cake pan about 2 inches high.

6. Steam on medium heat for 45 minutes.

7. Cool and cut into squares. Pan fry in a small amount of oil unti golden brown. Serve.

Comments:

- I prefer using 100% rice flour.

-Boil the daikon until it is tender, at least 10-15 min. I also prefer adding the seasoning to the daikon and not to the meat/shrimp.

-To me it is better to add the flour/water to the daikon while the daikon is still very hot. I bring the daikon to a rolling boil, remove it from the heat, then immediately stir in the flour/water. Doing it this way allows the flour to partially cook, and the process of stirring incorporates air into the rice pudding-like batter, resulting in a spongier, less dense end product.

Edited June 21, 2006 by sheetz (log)