Kolokasi with Lamb

The taro broken against the knife and never washed after peeling, because water turns the cut surface to slime.

Lamb. Not vegetarian — contains lamb.

Ingredients

• 1 kg taro (kolokasi)
• 800 g lamb shoulder, in large pieces
• 2 onions, sliced
• 4 celery sticks, in thick lengths, with their leaves
• 400 g tomatoes, chopped
• juice of 2 lemons
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 500 ml water or stock
• salt and pepper

Method

1. THE TARO IS BROKEN AGAINST THE KNIFE AND NEVER WASHED AFTER PEELING, and getting either half wrong ruins the dish. Taro is full of mucilage, and water on a cut surface turns it instantly to slime that then thickens the whole pot into something like wallpaper paste. So it is peeled dry, wiped with a cloth and not rinsed -- not once, not briefly. And it is not CUT: the knife is pressed part-way into the corm and the piece snapped off against the blade, giving a rough broken face rather than a smooth cut one. A broken face seals in the pan where a sliced face weeps. Cut and washed, it is a slimy grey stew; broken and dry, the pieces stay distinct and almost floury.
2. IT IS PEELED AND HANDLED DRY, AND THE HANDS WILL ITCH. The same mucilage irritates skin. Gloves, or peel it under nothing and wash your hands afterwards -- but the corm itself stays dry throughout.
3. THE PIECES ARE FRIED IN OIL BEFORE ANY LIQUID ARRIVES. Five or six minutes, turning, until the broken faces have sealed and gone golden. That seal is the second defence against the slime and it is why the taro goes in before the tomato and the water.
4. THE LEMON GOES IN EARLY AND THERE IS A LOT OF IT. The juice of two, in with the liquid. Acid keeps the taro firm -- it slows the pectin breaking down -- and it is also the only sharp thing in a pot of lamb and starch. Added at the end it tastes raw and does nothing for the texture.
5. IT IS NOT STIRRED ONCE THE TARO IS IN. The pan is shaken if anything. A spoon dragged through breaks the pieces, and every broken face is new mucilage released into the sauce at exactly the point where it is too late to do anything about it.
6. The lamb browned in the olive oil in a heavy pan, in two batches, and lifted out.
7. The onions and celery cooked in the same fat 8 minutes until soft.
8. The taro peeled DRY with a knife, WIPED with a cloth, and NOT RINSED at any point.
9. Each piece BROKEN OFF against the blade -- the knife pressed part-way in and the piece snapped away -- to give rough faces. Not sliced through.
10. The pieces added to the pan and fried 5 to 6 MINUTES, turned, until the broken faces are sealed and golden.
11. The lamb returned with the tomatoes, the water and the juice of BOTH lemons. Seasoned.
12. Brought to a simmer and covered.
13. Cooked 1 HOUR 15 MINUTES over a low heat, NOT STIRRED -- the pan shaken gently if needed.
14. The celery leaves added for the last 10 minutes.
15. TESTED: the taro should be tender and still in distinct pieces, and the sauce should be a sauce and not a paste.
16. If it has gone slimy, the taro was washed. Tasted, salted, and served with more lemon.

Our own recipe. This one was written for this site rather than taken from anywhere, so there is no source to point you at. The quantities and the order of the steps are choices, not the only way to do it.

Filed under Cyprus · All recipes