Taro/Gabi
Taro plants are commonly grown here in Hawaii but it seems hard to find if you want to make your own laulau. So I decided to give it a try and plant some. The root or corm is actually given to me by a Tongan friend because that’s all she have in her garden. I assumed that’s their staple food. I’m glad she gave some to me and now it’s doing pretty well, I could make a dish called “laing” which originated in the southern part of Luzon Island in the Philippines. Taro is their staple food too and they cook it with coconut milk and lots of hot peppers to add spice. The good thing is you can use all the parts, roots, leaves and stems in cooking. They say you have to cook it long enough to remove the oxalic acid which by the way will give you itchy throat.
Taro plant is very ornamental too. It is referred to as Elephant Ears in Horticulture but the scientific name is Colocasia Esculenta. They have green, purple, and semi-purple varieties. It would be a very pretty addition in a tropical garden.
Anyways, I like how the drop of water stays in the leaves and could be a good drinking water for a butterfly or a small bird or a gecko or any insect that frequents the garden.