Taro
Colocasia esculenta · Tuber
Top 10 pairings
Taro (Colocasia esculenta) is the swollen underground stem, or corm, of a large tropical aroid grown across the warm world as a staple starch. Beneath rough, fibrous brown skin lies dense white-to-greyish flesh, often flecked or veined with lilac, pink or purple; bland and acrid when raw, it turns soft, creamy and nutty with a faint sweetness once thoroughly cooked. Raw taro is mildly toxic and must always be cooked.
Picking a good onedrag
Hard, dry-cut, no shootsSoft, sprouting, browning
Shop firmEveryday bestThe all-rounder: boil, steam, braise, mash or fry.
CrownScales tight, one bud showing
HeftFirm through, faint give at the ends
Skin and cut faceSkin dulling, face chalky and sunken
Smell at the cutEarthy, like a raw potato
What you get from one
86%
Edible part
688 g · ends and skin off
800 g
Weight each
each one
Keeping ittap a temperature
Chilling sensitive: hold it at 7-10 C. Colder than that and the flesh pits and browns inside, so not the fridge.
80–95%
Humidity
Free and open
Airflow