Taro in Indonesia

Dropping in to visit a friend recently, I was served a slice of fried taro, or talas goreng in Bahasa Indonesia. It was delicious with a cup of hot sweet tea. Living near Bogor, where fruit vendors sell bundles of taro, I actually never paid much attention to this vegetable as gastronome and epicurean el supremo Suryatini N. Ganie explains.

Taro, light brown or beige in color, looks rather unappealing. “But as you have just tasted, it can be cooked as a nice snack, used as an ingredient in a main dish or even made into a refreshing beverage,” my hostess said.

I commented that taro seemed to be a filling vegetable, because after eating the slice that was offered to me, I felt quite full and thought that I might have to skip dinner.

The traffic going home from Bogor was heavy, so I had time to have a better look at the fruit and vegetable stalls along the way.

Some bengkuang (juicy tubers), bananas and the ever present taro were hanging in bunches of 10.

They really looked as though they had been hanging there for centuries. Nevertheless, I asked how much a bundle would cost. “The small ones are 10,000 rupiah and the large ones are 20,000.”

After some bargaining I got the smaller ones for six thousand and intended to fry them but the cook suggested to steam them until they became soft and then mash them. Then season the taro with salt and pepper and add some finely chopped local selederi, or leek, and an egg yolk or two according to the quantity of the mashed taro.

Roll spoonfuls of the mixture into balls then dip in beaten egg whites and fry them as perkedel talas, meaning taro fritters.

“We do this in Muntilan,” she said, mentioning her hometown near the famous temple of Borobudur.

Taro leaves are a favorite in southern Java. Grated young juicy coconut spiced with shallots, garlic, chilies, galangal and salam leaves are mixed and placed in the center of a large taro leaf and then wrapped. Small salted anchovies may also be added. They are then steamed until done, that is when the leaves are clinging to the filling. This dish is rarely made in large cities because the taro leaves are rather difficult to obtain.

The dish is called buntil and is eaten as a side dish with hot rice or packed as a favorite picnic food.

Taro has many local names and one of them is bentul (bentoul), hailing from the cool mountainous areas of East Java, especially from Malang.

The Latin name is colocasia esculenta and in Indonesia most taro are of this variety and named talas Bogor.

Two places in Indonesia where people consider taro a staple are Papua and Sumedang.

Upon closer inspection, we can see that taro is actually a very unique plant. The plant has no stem, but has leaves which grow very close to each other, giving the appearance of a stem.
Aside from being an interesting plant, its history is also worth tracing. Taro originated from Egypt, where it has been a staple since ancient times.

The taro plant was exported from Egypt to Europe, Asia and to small islands in the Pacific Ocean, including Fiji, Samoa and Tonga. In Hawaii, taro is made into a meal called poi.

Compared to other tubers such as sweet potato and cassava, taro contains a much higher level of protein.

Taro is also a source of carbohydrate and therefore, very suitable as a source of energy. So, go ahead, enjoy a boost of energy from the pyramids!

Suryatini N. Ganie