These Crispy Taro Fritters are the perfect crowd-pleasing side dish! And what's more, they're healthy yet satisfying, and super easy to make!
Taro is a root vegetable often used in Asian cuisine. When cooked, it has a soft, starchy texture similar to potato but is a little more slippery - so kind of like a cross between okra and potato.
In Japan, it's known as satoimo, which is a variety of taro known as eddo, and it used to be a staple food before being replaced by rice. It's often used in Japanese cuisine, usualy simmered in dashi (fish stock) and soy sauce.
Here's a picture I happened to take in Japan when I saw someone had put them out in the sun to dry. They don't look particularly pretty, but they're really delicious and also super healthy!
These Crispy Taro Fritters are actually inspired by the dish I like to get at Chinese restaurants: soft taro coated with crispy breadcrumbs before being deep-fried.
My healthified version here is pan-fried rather than deep-fried, and uses cornflour instead of breadcrumbs, which keeps them much lighter.
Subbing regular breadcrumbs for cornflour keeps them gluten-free, and as a bonus it also makes them extra crispy!
This version here is also much easier as you don't have to heat up huge vats of oil for deep frying, and there's no need to coat them in flour, egg and breadcrumbs - just a quick dip in some cornflour will do. The lack of egg also means they're vegan-friendly!
I absolutely LOVE the contrast of the meltingly soft, perfectly tender taro inside and the crispy, golden brown outside.
These are delicious on their own but taste even better dipped in a mixture of soy sauce and sweet chilli sauce.
They make a great side for dishes like:
You can buy taro in Asian supermarkets, or in the 'exotic vegetable' section of some local supermarkets.
If you try out this recipe or anything else from my blog, I’d really love to hear any feedback! Please give it a rating, leave a comment, or tag a photo #rhiansrecipes on Instagram! Thank you.
Crispy Taro Fritters (Vegan + GF)
Ingredients
Instructions
- Boil or steam the taro for 10-15 minutes until soft enough to easily pierce with a fork
- Drain away the cooking water and add soy sauce, mirin and salt + pepper
- Mash with a fork until smooth
- Sprinkle the cornflour onto a plate
- Take 2 tablespoons of the mash, form into a small patty and evenly coat with the cornflour
- Repeat for the rest of the mixture
- Heat up the oil in a frying pan and add the cornflour-coated patties once hot
- Fry on a medium heat for around 10 minutes, turning over halfway through, until both sides are crispy and golden brown
- Transfer to a plate lined with kitchen paper and enjoy immediately
- These are delicious on their own but taste even better dipped in a mixture of soy sauce and sweet chilli sauce
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French Affliction
These look so good! 🙂 Where do you normally get the taro from? Can you find it in supermarkets, or is it best to go to Japanese or Asian food shops?
Rhian Williams
Thank you so much! You can buy them in the 'exotic vegetable' section of some supermarkets, Asian supermarkets or also some bigger food markets too. For example I saw them sold at Brixton market today in London. Hope that helps!
French Affliction
Thanks! 🙂
Anonymous
Was looking for taro recipes on Google and came across this - it looked so delicious I had to make it! And it didn't disappoint, it's a great side dish!
Rhian Williams
Thank you!
Jennifer M.
I just made these with the sauce and it was good. Mine were not as pretty as the picture though.
Rhian Williams
Amazing, thank you so much, really glad you liked them!
Stacey
Will note down the cornflour! Also I love your pan-fried version instead of deep-fried. It makes the recipe so much healthier! Thank you
Rhian Williams
Thank you so much, really glad you like it!
Catalot
Thanks so much for this recipe! It looks delicious and I look forward to trying it out. However I'm new to cooking with taro, and I was wondering if you could give an approximate weight, or a size in inches/cm to look for for the medium sized taro.
Rhian Williams
Thank you so much! A medium-sized taro is about 6cm in length, so a similar size to a medium-sized potato! Hope that helps and let me know if you have any other questions.