Giant Swamp Taro

Ingredients

Taro

• 2 kggiant swamp taro corm
• or 2 kg ordinary taro
• water, for boiling
• 1 teaspoonsalt

Sometimes served with

• 400 mlthick coconut cream
• grated fresh coconut
• sugar, for a sweet version
• salt, for a savoury one

To serve

• reef fish
• or tinned fish
• coconut cream, to pour

Directions

1. Pit losses are documented across the Pacific. Preparing the corm needs gloves. Wash the mud off thoroughly first. Peel it thickly with a strong knife. Take off all the fibrous outer layer.
2. Take off any discoloured flesh beneath. A vegetable peeler is not strong enough. Cut it into large even chunks. Rinse the peeled chunks under cold water. Some cooks soak them for an hour.
3. Put the chunks in a large pot. Cover them well with cold water. Add the salt to the cooking water. Bring the whole pot up to a boil.
4. Let it boil steadily for hours. Ordinary taro cooks in thirty minutes. Top up with boiling water as it reduces. Judging when it is done takes a test.
5. Taste a small cooled piece carefully. Any itch or burn means it needs more time.
6. Drain the cooked chunks thoroughly. Cut them into thick even slabs. Serve them hot on a large platter. Pour coconut cream over all of them. Serve fish alongside the platter.
7. Mash the cooked taro while hot. Work in the thick coconut cream. Add sugar and grated fresh coconut. Beat it into a smooth heavy paste. Serving it is done hot or cool.

Technique

• The plant is Cyrtosperma merkusii, not ordinary Colocasia taro, and grows far larger, with single corms reaching well over fifty kilos and taking years rather than months to mature.
• Atolls have no rivers, so pits are dug by hand down to the freshwater lens beneath the sand and composted over years; some have been worked for generations and represent enormous accumulated labour.
• The crop tolerates brackish water and drought, making it a genuine famine reserve that can be left in the ground for years, but rising seas and storm surges push salt into the lens and pit losses are documented across the Pacific.

Substitutions

• Ordinary taro can stand in, though it cooks far faster and is less dense.
• Any long-cooked starchy root is served the same way with coconut cream.

Variations

• A sweet version mashed with coconut cream and sugar is made for feasts.
• Some islands bake it in an earth oven rather than boiling it.
• The same crop is grown in pits across Kiribati and the Marshall Islands.

History

Cultivated in excavated freshwater pits on Chuuk’s and Yap’s atolls, a crop that survives salt and drought.

Frequently asked questions

What is Giant Swamp Taro?

Giant Swamp Taro is a salad & side from Micronesia: huge starchy corms grown in dug pits; boiled and served in slabs. Cultivated in excavated freshwater pits on Chuuk’s and Yap’s atolls, a crop that survives salt and drought.

How long does Giant Swamp Taro take to make?

Giant Swamp Taro takes 40 minutes of preparation and 3 hours of cooking. The recipe makes serves 8. It is rated medium to make.

What can I substitute in Giant Swamp Taro?

Yes, within limits. Ordinary taro can stand in, though it cooks far faster and is less dense. Any long-cooked starchy root is served the same way with coconut cream.

What is the most important thing to get right in Giant Swamp Taro?

Put the chunks in a large pot. Cover them well with cold water. Add the salt to the cooking water. Bring the whole pot up to a boil.