This Hakka taro roll is a little-known recipe that you may only see around Lunar New Year. Julienned taro and a bit of ground meat are mixed with dried mushrooms, dried shrimp, Chinese sausage, and peanuts. The mixture gets rolled in tofu skin to hold it together, steamed, and pan-fried until crispy.
While it’s a bit obscure and not necessarily a dish that will garner a lot of attention, it’s simply delicious, and it’s an important recipe to document.
Recording A Classic Hakka Recipe
If you’ve been following our blog for a while, you know that we cover a very wide range of Chinese (and non-Chinese) recipes.
I particularly like to share very traditional recipes for dishes that perhaps you’ve only eaten a few times, when a grandparent or parent made it for special occasions.
Many of these recipes are at risk of being forgotten, and I feel a deep sense of responsibility to document them in English. This is both so that overseas Chinese can remember them and pass them on, but also to share delicious new recipes with people who’ve never tried them!
So like everyone, I look around the internet often—and watch a lot of cooking videos. This year, across Chinese websites, I have seen several videos demonstrating how to make this Hakka Taro Roll for Chinese New Year.
The Hakka people were originally from China’s central plains, migrating across Southern China to areas like Fujian, Guangdong, Guangxi, and Jiangxi, as well as other regions within China and abroad. There are thought to be 80 million people of Hakka descent around the world today!
We have shared some other Hakka dishes, like Hakka Stuffed Tofu, Stuffed Bitter Melon, Sour Plum Duck, Salt Baked Chicken, and Eggs with Preserved Radish.
I love Hakka food, so I’m constantly searching for new Hakka recipes. I decided to give this recipe a try. After some testing and tweaking, we’ve landed on a recipe that the entire family loves. It turned out to be a real crowd-pleaser—even my grandbaby loves it!
What Is Taro?
Sarah recently released a post all about taro. Here’s a short summary: taro is a brown, hairy root vegetable with a texture similar to a potato. It has a deliciously buttery flavor, and comes in both a large and small size.
In this recipe, we use the larger taro, which has a starchier texture than small taro, which is stickier. Handling raw taro can irritate sensitive skin, so you may want to wear gloves when peeling and slicing it.
I think taro is a beloved ingredient to the Hakka people, as there are many taro dishes from that region. Recipes like our Steamed Pork Belly with Taro, Taro Rice, Braised Duck with Taro, and Taro Cake all have connections to Hakka cuisine. There are more that we haven’t tried yet, like 客家算盘子 (kèjiā suànpán zǐ), which are stir-fried gnocchi-like “abacus beads” made from taro and starch.
Characteristics of the Hakka Taro Roll
If you’ve ever had Taro Cake, another Chinese New Year treat, you’re familiar with the overall flavor profile of this dish.
Nutty taro combines with umami-packed savory elements including dried shiitake mushrooms, Chinese sausage, peanuts, ground pork, and dried shrimp. The addition of five spice powder gives it a unique fragrance.
The biggest difference between this taro roll and taro cake is that there is less starch binding it together. As a result, you can really appreciate the taste and texture of the taro—soft, creamy, and buttery.
A very thin sheet of bean curd skin holds the roll together. (Similar to our Vegetarian Duck – 素鸭). You steam it, slice it, and pay-fry until crispy. The result is a complex yet familiar and comforting snack.
Serve it for breakfast, as an appetizer, or as one of the festive dishes you serve for your 年夜饭 (nián yèfàn), the traditional New Year’s Eve meal. Enjoy!
Recipe Instructions
In a large mixing bowl, add the taro, ground pork (or chicken), mushrooms, peanuts, dried shrimp, sausage, scallions, egg, salt, sugar, five spice powder, sweet potato starch, and water.
Use a rubber spatula to mix well, until everything is combined into a thick pasty filling. Flatten the filling in the bottom of the bowl so it’s even. Use your spatula to dive it into roughly 4 equal portions.
Cut your sheet of tofu skin into quarters. The sheet is usually circular, so fold in half and cut with kitchen shears, then fold in half again and do the same thing. If the tofu sheet is dry and breaks when you try to bend it, brush lightly with water to soften it.
Fold in the uneven sides so you have a rectangle. Each individual quarter should be about 9×11 inches (23x28cm).
To wrap, place one portion filling at the short end of a tofu skin quarter, compressing it into a firm log that stretches the length of the tofu skin, about 2 inches in diameter. Again, if the sheet is dry, you can brush it with water.
Wrap the tofu skin tightly around the filling log.
Place it seam-side down on a heatproof dish that will fit into your wok for steaming. Repeat with the remaining bean curd skin and filling, setting the rolls onto a heatproof plate so they aren’t touching.
Prepare a wok with a 2- to 3-inch (5-8 cm) steaming rack. Fill with enough water to come just below the rack. Get more information on how to set up a steamer. Bring the water to a boil, place the dish on the rack, and cover. Steam over medium-high heat for 35 minutes (check it periodically and add more boiling water as needed).
Remove from heat and let the rolls cool completely (covered) before slicing. Slice the rolls on a slight angle into ½-inch (1.25cm) thick pieces.
You can eat them as is, or pan-fry the cut pieces in an oiled frying pan over medium heat. Pan-fry for about 5 minutes per side, or until golden brown.
Enjoy!
Make-Ahead Tip!
You can make these rolls up to 2 days in advance, steam them, and refrigerate them in an airtight container. When you’re ready to eat them, steam to reheat, or simply slice and pan-fry.
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Recipe
Hakka Taro Roll
Ingredients
- 1 pound large taro (peeled and finely julienned)
- 10 ounces ground pork (or dark meat ground chicken)
- ½ cup dried shiitake mushroom (soaked in hot water for at least 2 hours or overnight, squeezed of excess liquid & diced; reserve the soaking liquid)
- ⅓ cup unsalted roasted peanuts (coarsely chopped)
- ¼ cup dried shrimp (soaked 2 hours and minced)
- 1 link Chinese sausage (lap cheong, finely diced)
- 3 scallions (finely chopped)
- 1 egg
- 1½ teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- 1 teaspoon five spice powder
- ⅓ cup sweet potato starch
- ½ cup water (the liquid from soaking the mushrooms)
- 1 large sheet fresh bean curd skin
Instructions
- In a large mixing bowl, add the taro, ground pork (or chicken), mushrooms, peanuts, shrimp, sausage, scallions, egg, salt, sugar, five spice powder, sweet potato starch, and water. Use a rubber spatula to mix well, until everything is combined into a thick pasty filling. Flatten the filling in the bottom of the bowl so it’s even, and use your spatula to dive it into roughly 4 equal portions.
- Cut your sheet of tofu skin into quarters. If the tofu sheet is dry and breaks when you try to bend it, lightly brush it with water to soften it. Fold in the uneven sides so you have a rectangle. Each individual quarter should be about 9×11 inches (23x28cm).
- To wrap, place one portion filling at the short end of a tofu skin quarter, compressing it into a firm log that stretches the length of the tofu skin, about 2 inches in diameter. Wrap the tofu skin tightly around the filling log and place it seam-side down on a heatproof dish that will fit into your wok for steaming. Repeat with the remaining bean curd skin and filling, setting the rolls onto a heatproof plate so they aren’t touching.
- Prepare a wok with a 2- to 3-inch steaming rack, and fill with enough water to come just below the rack. Get more information on how to set up a steamer. Bring the water to a boil, place the dish on the rack, cover, and steam over medium-high heat for 35 minutes (check it periodically and add more boiling water as needed).
- Remove from heat and let the rolls cool completely (covered) before slicing. Slice the rolls on a slight angle into ½-inch (1.25cm) thick pieces. You can eat them as is, or pan-fry the cut pieces in an oiled frying pan over medium heat. Pan-fry for about 5 minutes per side, or until golden brown.
