UTILIZATION AND COMPOSITION OF ORIENTAL VEGETABLES 27 
Taro shoots are the tender, delicious growth from the taro corm 
which is grown in moist sandy soil, or in sphagnum moss in a dark- 
ened place. The vegetable is sold on the market in cylindrical 
bunches of 8 to 18, depending upon their size. 
To prepare for the table. — Wash the vegetable and cut it in 2-inch 
lengths; boil in water to which a little salt has been added. Cook 
till tender and serve with or without butter. 
Figtre 24. — Taro stalks 
Taro Stalks (Colocasia e.sculenta). (Fig. 24) 
Chinese name: Woo-harp 
Japanese name : Iino-kuki 
Shape: Long, slender, wide at base, narrow at tip. 
SizQ Twelve to sixteen inches long; three-fourths to 1 inch in diameter at 
base. 
Color: Light green to dark purple or purplish green, depending upon the 
variety. 
Taro stalks are the leafstalks of many varieties of both the wet 
and the dry land taro. The stalks may be green or purple or a com- 
bination of the two colors. The stalks consist of the upper four- 
fifths of the entire leafstalk of the taro. The lower fifth is left at- 
tached to the corm when the latter is offered for sale as taro. Taro 
