I spent a lot of my 2013 in Hawai'i. I was on the Big Island for a couple of weeks in January for a school trip, and then I spent most of my summer at a field school on Kaua'i. While I was there I learned a ton about the cultural, environmental, and geologic history of the islands. One of the things that I learned about is taro. Taro is a plant that is widely cultivated on Hawai'i and other pacific islands. It was one of the main nutrition sources for the polynesian peoples of the pacific, but it is still grown and used today. I was fortunate enough to try some taro flavored things on my first trip to Hawai'i and I decided I liked it. The second time I tried it I decided I REALLY liked it. And the third time, well it became a really special treat. So much so that when I found out I was spending my summer back on the Islands one of my first thoughts was, "Now I get to eat taro!" (kinda sad, but hey I like it). During my time of Kaua'i I was fortunate enough to get the opportunity to actually help plant some taro, and learn more about the crop and it's significance. The native Hawai'ian's used it as a dietary staple. It has a lot of essential nutrients and it's also a really sustainable crop. The plant itself is grown in water, much like rice. It produces purplish corms (it's a tuber like plant, I usually describe it as an aquatic sweet potato), and those are typically the part of the plant that is eaten. The corms are purplish in color (see below), and are actually toxic if they are not cooked before they are eaten. But then cooked taro has a sweet almost nutty-vanilla taste. It's kinda strange at first but really yummy!
Some of the taro things that I've eaten include taro sweet rolls, taro ice cream, taro chips, mashed taro, taro fries, taro burgers, taro hand pies, and taro tea. There are taro products everywhere in Hawai'i, but it is extremely hard to find here on the mainland. The only place I've seen anything taro is at bubble tea joints (and recently I saw it listed as an ingredient at a local Vietnamese restaurant :) more to come on that in a later post). I've been trying to find some good quality taro powder online for months, so I can use it the same way I use my matcha. And finally, FINALLY, a reasonably sized bag from a credible seller went on sale for the reasonable price of $15 on amazon. I jumped at the chance and now I have enough taro powder to keep me happy for the next year (see below)! I made myself a cup of taro milk tea earlier this week, and I was extremely happy with the mix. It tastes like other sweet preparations of taro that I've had, and is the wonderful purple color (I think dye is partly responsible for the exact shade, but its fun so I don't mind)!
Thoughts on this Drink:
- It tastes just like taro bubble tea I've had restaurants so no complaints
- The amount I got of the powder for the price was really good deal considering how hard it is to find and how much tea at a tea shop costs.
- I want to try baking with it the same way I bake with matcha, it also has a unique flavor that I think will add something to cakes.
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