Young Taro Leaves in Coconut Milk

This is a true pan-Oceanian dish that crosses both political and ethnic boundaries. It is present at most meal occasions, including feasts. I have sampled versions of this dish from New Guinea, through the South Pacific to Tahiti and from Hawai’i to Guam. In Rarotonga, in the Cooks, it was served with slices of firm, cooked taro as edible utensils.

The younger the taro leaves the lesser the amount of the irritating calcium oxalate crystals, which occur in varying concentrations in a