It’s Sunday! You know what that means: it’s time for Sunday Brunch. Why don’t you skip the line and make brunch at home this week? The coffee’s truly bottomless, the booze doesn’t have a crazy markup and you can chill out in your pajamas. Every Sunday I’ll post a brunch recipe. Soon you won’t be asking, where should we go for brunch – instead it’ll be, what should we make for brunch today?
A couple of weeks ago I came up with the brilliant idea of having a brunch cocktail party with a bunch of tiny brunch inspired bites. I couldn’t get the picture of a standing-room-only brunch party out of my mind, so I came up with these tiny taro crispy pancakes, a sort of cross between a latke and a Chinese taro cake (the kind you get at dim sum).
Taro, like so many other foods, used to be one of my mortal enemies. As a child, it was powdery tasting and just plain weird. I totally did not get my dad’s obsession with it. Usually my mom stewed it, which I found absolutely horrible. Now I’m super fond of taro, in most of it’s preparations (no thank you poi). I can thank those fancy bags of root vegetable chips for my change of heart. I went from being a taro hater to a taro lover with just one crunchy chip.
Taro, with its naturally dry consistency, is ideal for frying: a little bit of hot oil and shredded taro turns into a lacy, crunchy pancake. Taro pancakes are delicious on their own, but like latkes, they’re even better with toppings. I finished these guys off with some sour cream, smoked salmon, green onions, and sriracha for a bite full of contrasting textures and flavours. I think they’d be awesome alongside some sriracha bloody Caesars. Happy Sunday!
Crispy Taro Pancakes Recipe
serves 2
- 1 cup freshly shredded/grated taro
- 1 teaspoon flour
- salt and pepper
- 2 tablespoons oil, for frying
- sour cream, to serve
- smoked salmon, to serve
- sliced green onions, to serve
- sriracha, to taste
Toss the shredded taro with the flour and season generously with salt and pepper.
In a heavy-bottomed skillet, heat up 2 tablespoons of oil until hot and shimmery. Drop the taro mixture by the tablespoon and flatten. Cook over medium to medium-high heat until edges are crisp and golden, about 1 1/2 minutes. Flip and cook the other side until golden, about 1 minute. Drain on paper towels. Continue pancaking until taro mixture is done. Top pancakes with sour cream, smoked salmon, slice green onions, and sriracha, if desired. Enjoy immediately.
These look amazing! Thank you SO much for posting brunch every Sunday. It’s my favorite ;)
Aaaaaaah, something to quell my taro craving when my fave fuzzy football dim sum is out of reach!! Adorbs and super tasty, Steph!
So. I’ve never had taro other than the taro chips. And with those, I tell everyone that I love taro, so I feel ya on how great those chips are! Would love to try taro in some other form, like with this recipe.
I love this!! Sunday brunch is probably one of my favorites!!
I want, I want!! Do you have taro puffs at dim sum in the US? I’m in Australia, and they are my absolutely FAVOURITE at yum cha! (i.e. dim sum!). So this is made with taro and it’s been fried. And you’ve topped it with a brunch classic of smoked salmon and sour cream. You’ve basically scored a home run in my books :)
This is fantastical!!! I love the way you topped the cakes with those contrasting flavors. It looks super gourmet, but i know your secret….this is easy as pie (fried cake)!
my family and I really loved this! it’s super delicious! thanks for the great recipe :)
This looks really good! Can’t wait to try it!