12 BULLETIN 1247, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 
ton Christian College. The variety has been received from two dif- 
ferent localities in China and from Australia and is known to have 
been grown to a very slight extent in Hawaii. No record is known of 
its flowering, and its exact relationships with other varieties having 
similar leaf characters are therefore somewhat in doubt. 
USES. 
All parts of the Penang taro plant are acrid, and neither corms 
nor tubers should be tasted until completely cooked. The methods 
for cooking are in general the same as for dasheens or other taros. 
However, on account of its extreme mealiness and, for several weeks 
after digging, the consequent tendency to cook to pieces in boiling, 
this taro is not usually suitable for plain boiling or for scalloping 
until about January 1. The following recipes have been found par- 
ticularly well adapted for the Penang variety. Baking, as described 
in the recipe which follows, is one of the best methods of prepara- 
tion, but attention also is directed especially to the recipes for filling 
for fowl and for the flaked or granulated taro. 
Baked taro.—Clean the dry corm with a brush or coarse cloth, parboil for 
10 to 15 minutes (depending on size), and bake in a moderate oven for the 
same length of time as for a potato of equal size. Cut large corms in half 
lengthwise to reduce time of baking. Do not overbake. The delicate crust 
formed on the cut surface of a properly baked corm is particularly delicious. 
When the taro is done, serve immediately in the ‘half shell” or remove 
the skin and serve in flat slices about half an inch thick in a warmed covered 
dish. Eat with salt and butter or gravy. 
Plain boiled.—(Satisfactory only when corms are thoroughly matured, after 
about January 1.) Boil whole in the skin and when cooked through remove 
from water at once, dry off in a hot oven for 5 to 10 minutes, and serve 
immediately. A large corm may be cut in half, peeled, and then cut into 
smaller pieces—such as the thick, even slices described under baked taro— 
and served in a warmed covered dish. Eat with salt and butter or gravy. 
Taro flakes, or granulated taro.—Use cold taro, boiled or baked the day 
before. Peel, grind in food chopper with fine adjustment (nut-butter grinder 
for the flaked form), and sprinkle with salt (nothing else) while grinding; 
heat rather quickly in chafing dish or in covered dish in hot oven; do not stir. 
Serve immediately; eat with butter or gravy. Butter or cheese may be added 
to top after heating and the dish browned quickly in oven and then covered 
to prevent further drying. 
Riced taro.—Boil (or parboil and bake) the taro and peel it. With a strong 
steel-handled ricer rice the hot taro in layers into a warm covered serving 
dish, and season each layer with salt. Eat with butter or gravy. A casserole 
may be used for serving and the top of the riced taro dotted with butter or 
sprinkled with grated cheese and browned quickly in the oven. 
Mashed taro.—Rice the taro as in the preceding recipe, or mash it thoroughly ; 
season with salt and butter, add plenty of heated milk to make beating easy, 
and beat until very light. The excellence of mashed taro depends upon the 
use of a proper quantity of milk and the thoroughness of the beating. 
Filling for fowl and other meats—Prepare the filling as usual, but use 2 
parts of boiled and riced taro to 1 part of bread. This is equal to chestnut 
dressing and requires less labor in preparation. 
Taro hash.—Prepare from cold boiled or baked taro and meat, seasoning 
as for ordinary hash. The distinctive flavor of the Penang taro makes this 
hash especially delicious. 
Taro crisps.—Crisps are made from the Penang taro in exactly the same 
way as from dasheen corms. Pare the uncooked corm without wetting; cut 
into latticework slices with a strong fluted vegetable slicer, soak for an hour 
or more in at least two changes of water, and fry slowly to a straw color in 
deep vegetable fat. A temperature of 180° to 190° C. for the fat has been 
found most satisfactory. 
