芋艿 — Whole Steamed Mid-Autumn Taro (yùnǎi)
Small whole taros cooked in their skins, with tender, soft, silky flesh, peeled hot and dipped in a little salt. Comforting rusticity that breaks the sweet sweetness of the table.
Small whole taros cooked in their skins, with tender, soft, silky flesh, peeled hot and dipped in a little salt. Comforting rusticity that breaks the sweet sweetness of the table.
Do not think I have forgotten the earth. Before jade and cold, I lived near the Yellow River in the home of my husband Hou Yi, the archer. There, on autumn evenings, we buried small taros under the ashes or steamed them, and peeled them hot between our fingers. Dip the pale flesh in a grain of salt, nothing more: it is the food of the living, simple and warm, the food I no longer have. Eat it for me, and think of those who share your table.
- •Small taros (芋艿) — a basket (steamed root)
- •Salt — a pinch (dipping)
芋艿 — Whole Steamed Mid-Autumn Taro (yùnǎi)
Small whole taros cooked in their skins, with tender, soft, silky flesh, peeled hot and dipped in a little salt. Comforting rusticity that breaks the sweet sweetness of the table.
Why this dish? At Mid-Autumn, under Chang'e's Moon, taros are offered for their lunar skin and pale flesh, and because peeling the taro (剥鬼皮, 'peel the demon's skin') wards off bad luck—a protective gesture on the night when the living look toward the afterlife where the goddess resides.
Do not think I have forgotten the earth. Before jade and cold, I lived near the Yellow River in the home of my husband Hou Yi, the archer. There, on autumn evenings, we buried small taros under the ashes or steamed them, and peeled them hot between our fingers. Dip the pale flesh in a grain of salt, nothing more: it is the food of the living, simple and warm, the food I no longer have. Eat it for me, and think of those who share your table.
Ingredients (period version)
- Small taros (芋艿) — a basket (steamed root)
- Salt — a pinch (dipping)
Ingredients
- Small taros — 500 g (heart of the dish)
- Fine salt — 1 tsp (dipping seasoning)
- Toasted sesame oil — 1 tsp (optional) (fragrance, umami)
Method
- Scrub taros without peeling; leave them whole in their skins.
- Steam for 25-35 min depending on size, until a skewer pierces through without resistance.
- Serve hot, to be peeled by hand (caution: raw sap irritates; peel only after cooking).
- Prepare a small dish of salt, optionally spiked with a drop of sesame oil, for dipping the flesh.
- Arrange in a pyramid on the altar facing the Moon before sharing.
How it was made : Taro is an Old World root, domesticated early in Asia—no anachronism. At the time, it was cooked under ashes, boiled, or steamed, and eaten plain with a little salt, sometimes with sauce or fat. The custom of offering it at Mid-Autumn, linked to a protective pun, is well attested in southern China.
The contemporary twist : Mash peeled taros into a warm puree, smooth with a drizzle of osmanthus oil to connect this 'earth' dish with the lunar fragrance of the rest of the table.
Chang'e · Charactorium