Taro, which is also known as kalo, is an ancient Hawaiian crop. The taro plant is sacred in Hawaiian culture and has been grown and cultivated in the islands for more than a thousand years.
What is it?
The taro, or kalo, is a plant with a large, broad leaf. It’s a root vegetable and is grown mainly for its starchy corm (underground root stem).
What is edible?
The leaves, the root and the stem of the kalo plant itself are edible. The leaves can be used to make laulau as part of a lūʻau, while the root of the kalo can also be made into poi. The root can be roasted, baked or boiled.
Poi, is cooked or mashed taro. Taro can also be eaten steamed like a potato or even made into taro chips. Plenty of products are made using taro flour. There are many varieties of kalo and some are more suitable to different growing conditions and are used for different dishes. Over 300 varieties of kalo were brought to the islands and there are currently about 100 varieties still grown in Hawaii.
Kalo tastes similar to sweet potato and when cooked is a great source of potassium, vitamin B, C and E, as well as magnesium.
Growing Kalo
Taro can be grown in wetland taro patches (lo’i) in which the leaf stalk with a section of root, is planted in wet patches of soil through which fresh water is irrigated. This process takes up to a year before taro is ready for harvest. Taro can also be grown in mounds of soil in drier conditions.
