Colocasia esculenta
Despite the indifference to the potato in China, there is one root vegetable they have taken to in a big way. Taro.
In Chinese, 芋头/芋頭 (Mand: yù tóu; Cant: wu6 tau4*2).
This is boiled, steamed (sometimes with sugar), braised or fried. It also appears in hot pots and soups.
There are also a number of desserts which feature taro in the form of cakes and pies, often served as dim sum. McDonald's China also sell taro pies.
A favourite local use is in a dish called 扣肉 (Mand: kòu ròu; Cant: kau3 juk6), literally 'upside down bowl meat), in which slices of taro are interleaved with slices of fatty pork belly, placed in a bowl and steamed. The bowl is then inverted onto a serving plate.
The full process is explained in great detail over here.
Baby taro is also available.
These are a bit bigger than we usually get. Wrong time of year.
