You Made What? Taro Root Ice Cream

I live in Washington, DC. My brother lives in Vietnam. On his awesome blog, he has a series called "What Is It?", where he finds a mystery food, eats it, and tries to deduce what it is. In an effort to make him seem a little closer, I'm going to attempt to cook all of these things. Hilarity will ensue.

Up first: Taro Root Ice Cream! There was an entry before this, but baby steps, ok? Finding the mung beans and pandan leaf for Bánh da lợn will have to wait for another day.

According to Brother, taro root ice cream tastes a little bit like "grainy butter." Not a strong selling point. But his description slowly got better, and it has other advantages as well: 
1) It is purple, which is cute
2) I get to use my kitchenaid ice cream attachment

taro root and coconut cream: done!

3) It has relatively few ingredients, which are all readily available at H Mart

To the Store!

Seriously, easiest shopping trip ever. Not that I stopped shopping after finding these two things...maybe the difficult part will come in the preparation.

To the Kitchen!

Nope. Still super easy. Which is fantastic and bodes well for the rest of the summer. Just imagine simultaneously making potatoes and ice cream, and you've got this down.







To the Table!
You've got to hand it to my brother, he has a way with words. It kind of tastes like grainy butter, but in a good way. The coconut is a standout (or maybe, being unfamiliar with taro, it's just the most recognizable ingredient to me), but the taro adds a nice earthiness and richness.  Sadly it's not purple (food coloring is so misleading), but I'll live.

Kirby gave it his stamp of approval.

Also, taro on its own is delicious. I kept eating it out of the pot while I was boiling it. Plan on adding it to your root vegetable rotation this fall!

Coconut-taro root ice cream topped with fresh mango

Coconut-Taro Root Ice Cream

2 c coconut milk

1 c taro, cubed into 1/4 inch pieces

1 c water

3/4 c sugar

pinch of salt

Boil the cubed taro until soft (15-20 minutes). Drain. Let cool.

Mix together coconut milk, water, sugar, and salt over low heat, stirring until sugar is dissolved. Remove from heat and let cool completely. While this mixture is cooling, dump that taro into a food processor and blend until it's a creamy paste. Then blend the taro root paste and the coconut milk mixture until all ingredients are mixed. Chill thoroughly.

Once the mixture is cooled, proceed as your ice cream maker suggests. Allow a few hours in the freezer to harden.

xo

l