As a young child, I didn’t like taro. I didn’t like how starchy or creamy it was. Thus, I shied away from taro in my cooking. However, I’ve been trying to revisit some foods that I’ve shied away before and giving them a second chance.
What is Taro?
For those who don’t know what a taro is, it’s basically a root vegetable. It’s more common in East Asia, Southeast Asia, African countries and even Hawaii. They can been grown in flooded conditions so you might see them being cultivated in wet fields. Taro is a very common ingredient in Chinese (my background) cooking. However, taro is a very popular in sweet dishes and you may have seen it when you order bubble tea.
Since I don’t cook with taro a lot, I decided to make the easiest recipe with it which is a taro cream. Taro naturally have a bit of starchiness but once blended into a paste it’s very creamy which makes it perfect for filling pastries and for spreading on bread.
Taro cream recipe
This recipe is quite simple so very beginner friendly. The cream will last about 1 week in the fridge or you can freeze it up to a month. The ingredients are simple and doesn’t require any special equipment. The only thing to watch out for if you steam for a long time, your water may run dry so have a timer and keep an eye on it. One thing to note is that once the taro cooks, it’s more an off white colour so to give it a bright purple colour, you can add a put of purple sweet potato powder. You can buy it off of Amazon. I like to keep it piping bag to so I can cut the tip off and use when needed.
For this recipe, I used a mixture of milk and heavy whipping cream. Using heavy whipping cream will be too heavy for the mixture but using only milk will mean you will lose some of that creaminess and thickness that whipping cream provides.
Taro Cream (perfect for baked goods)
Equipment
- blender
- steamer
Ingredients
- 1.4 lb Cut taro
- 130 g whipping cream
- 130 g 2% Milk
- 64 g sugar
- 7 g purple sweet potato powder (optional)
Instructions
- Peel the skin of the taro and cut into chunks
- Line a steamer with a parchment paper with cut holes in it
- put the taro into the steamer and turn the heat on high. Don't boil the water beforehand. Once the water boils, turn the heat to medium
- Steam for about 20 min or until the a butter knife can cut through the taro easily
- transfer the taro into a blender. Add milk, whipping cream, sugar and purple sweet potato powder.
- Blend until smooth. May need to stir in between to break up pieces
- transfer into a bowl.
- Put a plastic/saran wrap right on top of the taro mixture to prevent drying out
- cool down and place into the fridge for later use. This can be kept up to 1 week.