A straightforward and hassle-free one pot savory meal with an irresistible fragrance that is pleasantly palatable!
Taro is a type of tuber with brown, rough outer layers but with surprisingly white flesh of purplish streaks. Once cooked, it has a velvety texture with a sweet subtle aroma although it does not has much of a taste on its own. Maybe due to this characteristics, it is used to create many delightful dishes, be it savory or sweet. I love anything that is made with taro! A sweet and soupy dessert that I made using taro is Bubur Cha Cha.
In Malaysia, taro is more commonly known as yam. Yet in US, yam is interchangeably used to refer to sweet potato. However, I am using the word ‘yam’ to refer specifically to ‘taro’.
This dish is extremely simple and can easily be made within 45 minutes! It is a dish that I will make if I want something quick.
The ingredients are 2 rice cups (1.5 – 2 measuring cups) of long grain white rice, 1 lb yam (450gram) of yam (taro), 1 medium-sized yellow onion (or 5 small shallots), 4 dried shiitake mushroom, 1 pack of enoki mushroom, 1/2 lb (225 gram) of pork loin, 1/3 cups of dried shrimp, 4 tablespoon of oyster sauce, 2 tablespoon of soy sauce, 1 tablespoon of cooking wine, 2 – 3 tablespoon of sesame oil and 2 – 2.5 rice cups (1/5 – 2 measuring cups) of water.
One thing I love about this dish is its flexibility as substitutions can easily be made depending on what’s available.
Yellow onion – Use shallots instead of onion to enhance the fragrance of this dish.
Dried baby shrimp – Since I use dried baby shrimp, no cutting is necessary. But if dried red shrimp is used, make sure that it is finely chopped for easier bite.
Pork – If you don’t like pork, use chicken meat instead. Cut the chicken meat into bite size.
Remove the skin of yellow onion (or shallots) and dice the onion (or shallots). Use a knife to peel off the skin of yam and cut into cubes. Next, dice the shiitake mushroom. Remove the stem of enoki mushroom, cut in half and wash thoroughly with water. Slice the pork loin thinly of about 1 inch square shape.
Prepare a wok or large frying pan on medium heat. Add in 2 tablespoon of sesame oil and once oil is just about to heat up, add in diced onion (or shallots) and saute for 5 seconds before adding in dried shrimp, diced shiitake mushroom and sliced pork. Add in 1 more tablespoon of sesame oil if the mixture gets dry. Saute until the pork is half cooked and add in enoki mushroom, yam, 4 tablespoon of oyster sauce, 2 tablespoon of soy sauce and 1 tablespoon of cooking wine. Mix well before adding in the rice. Saute for 5 seconds and turn off the heat. Transfer the rice mixture to the rice cooker immediately. Add in 2 – 2.5 rice cups (1.5 – 2 measuring cups) of water and cook the rice. The amount of water added should be based on how you normally cook plain white rice or just slightly more, depending on how much yam (taro) is used. Since I don’t use that much of yam (taro) for this recipe, the water I added is based on how I normally cook plain white rice.
Once cooked, serve the rice as it is or with chopped cilantro, green onion or red chilli. Enjoy! To download the pdf format of this recipe, click the link below. If you make this dish, take a picture of yours and comment below 🙂
The Cooking Owl 
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