Has anyone here actually eaten their aroids? I ask because I am embarking upon a soup with alocasia tubers in place of new potatoes. The flooding here has decimated the rice and corn crops (among other things), and the price of potatoes has skyrocketed, while the supply is dwindling. Additionally, new potatoes are harder to come by as the farmers are preferring to allow their tubers to get bigger, thus providing more starch bang for the buck. So, hooray for alternatives. Here in Ecuador, the alocasia crop is referred to as Papa China (chinese potatoes.) I'm not entirely sure which species of alocasia they come from. Attached are photos of the tubers; once I've eaten them I'll post a followup on flavour. Anybody out there who eats alocasia and wants to share tips - please do!
I've eaten both Alocasia and Colocasia prepared as a tuberous "vegetable", in broth and wrapped around meat which has been cooked in a pit. Some of what I've tried is very tasty, others less so. Despite the constant "warnings" on many websites that aroids are all "deadly poison" due to oxalate crystals, it just isn't as some would have us all believe. People throughout the Caribbean, Polynesia and parts of Asia eat them all the time. As to how to cook them, I'm worthless when it comes to advice. I do know a fellow from Trinidad who is currently working on an article about ways to cook some of these and once that is published I will gladly point you towards his published piece.
They look unlike any Alocasia tubers I have ever seen .. most likely really small potatoes . Xanthosoma tubers are usually long and dark .. they are the only Aroid I have eaten apart from Monstera .
I'd agree with Trikus, those look like potatoes, down to the 'eyes' (shoot buds). Couldn't find a pic of Alocasia roots online, but this page has a pic of Colocasia esculenta, and I'd guess Alocasia will be similar: http://jugalbandi.info/2007/08/arvi-taro-colocasia-and-ragda-patties/
Yes, but when I cut those open, they were definitely NOT potatoes. There's a pale rim around the inside and then a sort of thick, semi-opaque gelid center. This solidifies a bit when cooked, but the real starchiness of the tuber comes from that thin rim around the outside, just under the skin. And the flavour is also most definitely not potato - it reminded me more of creamy water-chestut. If it's not aroid, fine, but it's not a potato either. I live in the land of spuds, and I knows one when I eats one. There are a tremendous number of different types potatoes available here, representatives from both species (S. tuberosum and S. andigena). However, these tubers weren't purchased from potato farmers but from a fruit and vegetable grower. And believe me, this is important due to the way the big farmers markets are set up here. Potato sellers have their own little area, and they aren't really found outside it; these were gotten some distance from the spuddies from a seller of broccolis and these tubers. What is more telling, though, is that these tubers are not available in any of the permanent markets, from the superminis to the supermaxi. If they were new potatoes, they'd be on the shelves next to the other varieties that are stocked here. The veggie farmer I bought them from at the market also told me quite clearly before I bought them that they are not potatoes. He declined to tell me exactly what they were called, though. (There is an advantage to being the only gringa to shop at the farmer's markets, and it's that the vendors assume you know absolutely nothing about what they're selling and feel compelled to explain the way to eat whatever it is I'm buying to me.) The one thing he was really adamant about was that they should be boiled, because if I put them into the oven they'd turn into a disgusting moosh. And now I'm really curious as to what they are, seeing as how I've eaten them and rather enjoyed the flavour. Attached is a pic of the cut tuber; maybe this will help with the ID process. I'll ask the farmer what they are on Saturday.
Whether Alocasia or Xanthosoma, it is still an aroid. At least in South Florida and much of the Caribbean as well as Latin America, the tuberous forms that are eaten are Xanthosoma. The Cuban community in Miami grows enormous crops which are sold in almost any grocery store.
Thing is, I'm not sure now whether it is an alocasia or not. I await the farmer's market in order to ask the grower exactly what kind of plant they came from.
Yeah, well, it's a farmer's market so I'm not sure that's going to be possible. But if he tells me the common name of the plant I can ask around on my next trip out.
They could be tubers from the very aroid looking ,Tacca leontopetaloides .. looks so much like an Amorphophallus its not funny . It has been used as a food crop and is native to Asia and Australia , has tubers very much like what you have pictured . Flowers just like the related 'Bat Plant' and very fine seed , I could see it being taken over to South America by an enterprising Chinese market gardener. The foliage may be used for some herbal remedy also .
Looks to me to be Ulluco (Ullucus tuberosus). Related to Basella (Ceyon or Malabar Spinach) and Madeira Vine (Anredera cordifolia).The tubers are very common in the Andean region and are often mistaken for potatoes. There are several varieties with different coloured tubers from green to white to red and the red streaking is common as in this picture: http://www.peruecologico.com.pe/tub_ulluco.htm Below is the variety I grow ,bought in a market in Bolivia, by a friend and presented to me as a kind of potato (used as a delicacy) - the green colour put me off until someone identified it for me! http://forum.hageselskapet.no/hagepraten/gallery/pic.php?mode=med&pic_id=175
Here's another picture, this time showing Ulluco leaves. http://forum.hageselskapet.no/hagepraten/gallery/pic.php?mode=med&pic_id=176 I must admit I didn't to start with recognise the resemblence to the leaves of both Basella alba and Madeira Vine (the other two edibles in the Basellaceae), both of which I also grow. For my Xmas dinner I ate all 3 members of the family - the Ulluco and Madeira Vine tubers and Basella leaves.....
