Free Sample
The Complete Handbook of Taro Root
The Professional's Field Guide to Selection, Storage, Preparation, and Commercial Use
by Alumigogo Books
Chapter 1: Understanding Taro Root
Understanding taro root starts with correcting a common misconception: what is called taro root is not a root at all. The edible part of the plant is a modified underground stem called a corm. In appearance it resembles a rough, brown potato or a coconut, but its internal texture and chemical properties are entirely different. This distinction matters for practical reasons. It affects how you cut it, how you cook it, how you store it, and why it performs the way it does in your kitchen or processing plant.
What you are actually looking at
A whole taro is a corm, which is the swollen base of the stem of the Colocasia esculenta plant, grown in flooded or wet fields, similar to rice. The plant sends up broad, heart-shaped green leaves that can grow three feet tall, and under each leaf stem a single corm develops. The main corm produces smaller side corms called cormels, which are also edible and often sold separately. When you buy taro, you are buying the starchy storage organ that the plant uses to survive between growing seasons. It is packed with energy, water, and a specific set of plant proteins that are responsible for most of taro's unique handling quirks.
There are two major categories of taro: eddoe, which is smaller and has a more rounded shape, and dasheen, which has a characteristically pronounced central corm and yields large quantities. This is not just a trivial difference.