How to Make Coconut Taro Ice Cream: A Classic Thai Dessert

John writes these articles to try to pass on any great recipes and tips that he's picked up during my culinary journeys.

People from tropical parts of the world seem to a have a much greater appreciation for a wide array roots and tubers than we do in more temperate countries—and if we were smart, we’d take notice and get more into these very tasty and always affordable vegetables ourselves!

Taro is a purplish mild tasting root that is used, in Thailand, in a number of very tasty desserts—and if you like coconut ice cream, you will love taro and coconut ice cream…it’s just better!

Here’s a very simple taro and coconut ice cream recipe that you can make with serious ease in your ice cream maker—but be warned, once you go down this road of Asian tuber appreciation…there’s no going back!

Ingredients

• 2 cups of coconut cream (not the Coco Lopez stuff, just plain old coconut milk as sold in the can or box in the supermarket or in any asian grocery store)
• 1 cup of water
• 1 cup of taro, peeled and then diced into ¼ inch chunks
• ¾ cup of sugar
• A pinch of salt

Instructions

1. Cook the taro as you would boil potatoes, until softened 20-30 minutes in boiling water, and then drain
2. Mix together the remaining ingredients in a sauce pot and bring slowly to a boil. Once the sugar has melted into the mixture, remove from the heat.
3. Let it cool for a bit on the counter and then transfer to the fridge to cool completely before processing in your ice cream maker—actually, as a good tip, after you let the mixture come to a fridge temperature, give it an additional 20 minutes or so in the freezer just before processing. This last minute cold shock helps to accelerate the processing into ice cream, which can result in a denser and tastier finished product.
4. Process as directed in your ice cream machine.

Comments

lemonkerdz from LIMA, PERU on November 18, 2012:

unlike meskarune i have never heard of taro, the color of the ice cream got my attention. what on earth does it taste like?.......and don't say chicken! like anything else different. thanks for the hub, it must be a real talking point.

Meskarune from Oberlin, OH on June 06, 2011:

This sounds sooooo good. I love taro ice cream and coconut, so combined sounds wonderful!