Taro Rice

A huge dish of this taro rice recipe is like a warm hug. I think you will need more than one bowl to eat! This dish is perfect for breakfast, lunch, or dinner, thanks to its buttery taro cubes, Chinese sausage, seasoned rice, aromatic dried shrimp, and scallions.

Naturally, this dish features hearty ingredients like rice, taro, Chinese sausage and bold ones like dried shrimp. You can add this simple recipe to your repertoire and impress your guests with its authentic home-style flavor.

THE FOCUS IS ON TARO

There are mini taro and giant taro options. Big taro is used here because it has a similar starchiness to that of a russet potato and works well in this dish. I like to cook the small taros and eat them with some light soy sauce for dipping, but Bill always makes funny expressions because he’s used to the larger taro tubers. Because the small taros are smoother, he prefers the larger ones. Growing up, I was always a fan of little taro.

Even though we’ve eaten taro our whole lives, after trying this recipe, we wondered why we don’t eat it more often. It tastes fantastic, and its texture is silky smooth.

Consequently, we have re-entered the taro fan club, and our enthusiasm for this root vegetable continues to increase.

Instead of Chinese sausage, pork belly is a common substitute in this dish. Nonetheless, when cooked with rice, pork belly loses its flavor and becomes somewhat boring. That’s why I went for the Chinese sausage instead. It’s the most convenient, quickest, and most delicious option.

Marinate pork belly in light and dark soy sauce, Shaoxing wine, five spice powders, and a couple tablespoons of water overnight if you’d want to use it. To compensate for the rice soaking up some of the salt, the meat should have a little higher salt content than if it were cooked separately.

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 1/4 pound of peeled large taro (cut into 1-inch/2.5 cm pieces)
• 6-7 soaked and sliced dried shiitake mushrooms
• 5 sliced scallions (white and green parts separated)
• 4 links of Chinese sausage (thinly sliced)
• 2 1/4 cups of uncooked jasmine rice
• 2 1/2 cups of water (or chicken stock)
• 1 1/2 cups of cubed carrots
• 1/4 cup of rinsed dried shrimp
• 5 tablespoons of oil (divided)
• 3 tablespoons of light soy sauce
• 2 tablespoons of oyster sauce
• 1 tablespoon of minced ginger
• 1-2 tablespoons of minced garlic (to taste)
• 1/2 teaspoon of salt
• 1/2 teaspoon of white pepper
• 1/4-1/2 teaspoon of five spice powder (to taste)

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. Wash and soak the shiitake mushrooms until they are totally drenched (2 hours if boiling water or overnight if using cold water). Remove any extra water from the mushrooms and set it aside in the basin. Cut the mushrooms into thin slices and keep them aside.
2. To cook the rice, place it in a medium bowl and cover it with water by at least 2 inches (5cm). Try a 15-20 minute soak. Wait to stop draining until the water is gone.
3. Bring the wok up to a high enough temperature so that smoke appears. Put on 2 teaspoons of oil. Stir in the taro and brown it on all sides over medium heat. Have patience; it will take 6–8 minutes. Doing so forms a crust that prevents the taro from becoming mushy when added to the rice. Take the taro out of the frying pan.
4. Add another 2 tablespoons of oil to the wok and keep it above a medium flame. For 1 minute, simmer the ginger and scallion whites.
5. Fry the Chinese sausage for a few minutes to get rid of some of the fat. Then throw in some salt, dried shrimp, dry mushrooms, and sliced carrots. Let it simmer for two minutes or until the aroma is pleasantly strong.
6. Turn down the thermostat as low as it will go. Light soy sauce, oyster sauce, white pepper, and five-spice powder should be added to the rice that has been drained. Turn the heat up to medium-high and whisk the mixture for a few minutes to ensure it’s evenly distributed. To take away from the stove.
7. The last tablespoon of oil should be put into a Dutch oven or other lidded, flat-bottomed pan. Distribute it so that the oil covers the entire base of the skillet. Oil the bottom of the rice cooker pot if you’d rather use that method! Spread the rice mixture evenly in the pan or rice cooker pot after transferring the ingredients.
8. Prepare 2 1/2 cups of liquid, such as stock (including the mushroom soaking liquid, avoiding any sediment from the mushrooms). Pour the liquid over the rice, then evenly distribute the taro on top.
9. In a large pot, boil the water over medium-high heat. Once boiling, cover and turn the heat down to medium. Turn off the heat after 15 minutes. Wait 10 minutes, covered, to remove any excess moisture from the rice.
10. After removing the lid, stir in the green scallion tops and the minced garlic. Sprinkle with salt to taste, and serve hot. Add some sautéed greens to this dish for a complete meal.