deep fried taro biscuit 炸芋頭餅

One of my passion on food is to recreate a number of memorable street snacks I loved in my youth, or those I encountered during my overseas travel.

Taro is eaten in most if not all Asian cultures. Taro 芋頭 comes in different sizes from tiny ones smaller than chicken egg to big ones weighting in a few pounds. They are not always good to eat and picking the delicious one may be a challenge. The good eating one should not be too powdery that tastes dry. It should have some glue like consistency but yet a bit powdery.

During my youth on the way to and from school I invariably would go though streets where there are street food vendors. I would occasionally encounter this taro biscuit that is deep fried in a purpose-made steel mold. With limited allowance I had to make hard choices which snack I would spend my money on. Taro biscuit is often too expensive for my meager budget.

In my recent trip to Asia I came across the taro biscuit mold in the cookware store in Hong Kong. It is very well made and is built to last. I brought 2 home.

This taro biscuit is called wo tao go 芋頭糕 or 芋頭餅. It can be confusing because that is a more common version that is made in a loaf and then steamed. The loaf is then cut into slices like a loaf of bread. It is either eaten or pan fried to obtained a seared crust. The version here is mostly sold as street food. It is some what similar to fritters in the West. To avoid confusing with the loaf version I add the qualifying word jar 炸 in front meaning deep fried.

taro biscuit molds and a large taro

sun dried shrimps

fresh clams which I boiled and extract the meat; couch meat would even be better

the taro is grated coarsely

The grated taro is mixed with flour and water to form a batter. You don't want too much flour and water so the taro would be loose and airy. Too much batter would result in soggy taro cake. I season the batter with a bit of salt, pepper, and a dash of fish sauce.

the clam meat is chopped up and is mixed into the grated taro with the dried shrimps and chopped scallions

there is enough mixture to make 10-12 taro biscuits 芋頭餅

heat up the mold in oil - the oil acts as mold release

the trick is to not tame the top too much so you have the crunchy loose bits of taro

the cake is released from the mold but still need further frying

always test the first one for seasoning

resting on the rack to drain the excess oil

i used clams and dry shrimps but you can use other ingredients; conch would be great as well as fresh shrimps

it is a great summer time snack with a pint of cold beer - note the loose crunchy taro bits