In South Korea, Taro is called ToRan (토란) meaning “egg from earth”, and the corm is stewed and the leaf stem is stir-fried. Taro roots can be used for medicinal purposes, particularly for curing insect bites. I tried to find this in Korean stores here (USA) but I couldn’t. My mom sent this to me from Korea. I tried to think of what kind of vegetables you can substitute for this, if you can’t find it. When I consider the texture, I recommend oyster mushroom or Enokitake mushroom. Those substitutes are especially good when making the Korean soup YukGaeJang.
- Use:
Side-dish, Ingredient for soup (YukGaeJang)- Storage:
Keep in the cabinet.- Types:
If you get dried Taro Stems, soak them in water at least one night before you use them for cooking. This will get rid of the small bitter flavor, and they will become soft to eat. Wash them well, and boil them for some time before using them as an ingredient.
Short Korean Lesson
- MalLin (말린) = Dried
- ToRanDae (토란대) = Taro Stem
so, i’m luckier than u. i can find that here. hehe *^u^*
Hi, layping ~~
oooooooooowow….. YES YOU ARE !!! Do you use this for your food? or you can find this in a Korean store? anyhow..I envy you ..hehe. So ~~ you can make yukgaejang without any problem..cool~~;) Thanks !!
yap. i’m always wondering what do u do with that. but now, i know it ! thanks to u!
Hi, layping
You are welcome !! Maybe someday, I can post another food that uses it. Have a good day !!! 😀
oh, u read my mind! i was going to ask u for that! don’t find alot of recipes using korean dried vegetables. it’s a pity because they are very healthy!
Hi, layping
haha..did I ??? Yes, we have many kinds of dishes using vegetables.. (dried vegetables also. ) thanks !!
Hi, Shoe Carnival
Thanks for comment !!
Hi, Car On Water
Thanks for your comment !!! 🙂
Hi Aeri, I was wondering if you know if you know how to make dried taro leaves as I can’t seems to find the method / procedure online. These grow in HUGE ABUDANCE in my backyard and we can’t finish them fast enough and hence the idea to dry them. Many thanks.
hi Chien,
wow.. your backyard has them a lot ?? I envy you..hey give me some.. hehe joke.. here are some tips for you..
Chop the taro stems as the size you want.. peel off the skin.. it’s too wide.. so.. divide them for the size you want.. soak them in cold water with covering lid.. for over night to remove the bitter flavor from taro stems.
soak them over 10 hours.. it might have still bitter flavor.. in a boiling water.. boil them for sometime..and soak in water again.. and boil again…until they become eatable.. (not too much bitter flavor..)
When you touch them.. don’t forget to wear gloves.. otherwise your skin will get hurt.. because of the strong thing in the stem..
If you touched it without glove..so your hands are hurt..then rub your hands with sea salt..it will help…
thanks
Hi Aeri, many thanks for the reply 🙂
After following the procedure above, do I then leave it out in the sun and for how long? Apologies … so many questions.
I will be more than happy to send you some dried ones – assuming I can sucessfully dry them 🙂
hi Chien,
If you can dry them will in the sun.. yep.. dry them in the sun.. if you can cover with something to block insects or dust..it will be good.. anyway.. dry them until they completely dried..without any moisture left.. it will be depending on how hot the weather will be..but it will take several days.. thanks
Hi,
I’m looking for a recipe for the Dried Taro Stems, aside from the soups and yuk gae jangs. Is there another way to cook this as a side dish (banchan)? Please help, I bought a big bag from my korean supermarket!
Thanks in advance.
hi Shaw,
Yes you can make a delicious side-dish with it. I will add it to my list. I need to get some of it first since I don’t have any now. thanks
Hi Aeri,
If you want some of this I can send it to you from our “Asiana” named store which has it dried. I think it cost around $8/bag. I would love to see what to do with other than in soups as my boyfriend absolutely loved it at our local Korean place. So we bought a bag of it and have been placing it in soup, so good! If you’d like a lot, we can set up paypal for you to send me money and I’ll figure out shipping. I soooooo love this ingredient!
Be carefull with this ingredient and don’t be tempted to sample a raw/soaked piece of stem, don’t, it’s dangerous. Only eat it when they are cooked well in a soup.
What is the dangerous of eating it raw? OMG, I just sampled it for a tiny cut by my finger while i soaked it, was curious what it taste like. After that I sensed something strange in my mouth, tongue and throat, a bit hurt…,cant describe that feeling. I suspect it must because of the taro stem that i tasted, so I reopen this website and look for the information about the dried taro stem, and yes it is true and written like that