Smoky Taro (Paan Thongba)
This is Paan thongba or the Meitei style of cooking taro but with a twist. I have added bone broth and smoked beef in my recipe to make it more nutrient dense. Usually it is made with either only hawaizaar, fermented soy bean similar to the Japanese nato or with the addition of ngari (fermented fish) and some smoked fish to it. But I don’t see any reason in holding back on the ingredients. So, I have gone all out and made it a celebration of smoked “things”. I have added whatever smoked meats, fishes and shellfish that I could land my hands on. I had done this initially to counter the strong smell of the bone broth that I was using. I am using beef bone broth here and it can be overwhelming if not cooked with the right ingredients. The smell is now hidden with only the glutamate in the broth giving it a deeper flavour and the resulting dish is of a very mature flavourful smoky taste. You will love the riot of flavours dancing around in your mouth!
I have always loved taro but we usually talk of it as a sinful indulgence. We wrongly claim that it worsens a cold and treat it like any other carb laden food. But the truth is that it helps convert a dry cough into a productive one thus speeding up the recovery. And, like many root vegetables, it is a prebiotic. Which means that it provides food for the good bacteria in your guts helping it to thrive. Knowing what I know now, I see no reason not to eat taro more often!
You can throw in other smoked meats and fish that you have at hand since this is a very flexible recipe. You can add other herbs like chives and spring onions too if you like.
For this recipe I have used the following ingredients:
About a kilo of young tender taros.
A handful of garlic chives (maroi napaakpi).
4-5 saw leaves (awa phadigom).
Some smoked freshwater shrimps.
Some smoked freshwater fish.
Some smoked pieces of beef.
Smoked ghost chillies/u-morok (1 or 2 or you can skip it if you are not up to it).
2-3 tablespoon dried hawaizaar (you can use fresh ones too but dried tastes better).
About a teaspoon of hentaak (fermented fish paste) / 4-5 pieces of ngari (fermented fish).
2 cups bone broth (can be of any bone).
salt to taste.
Leaving just a few sprigs of the maroi nakuppi and the awa phadigom leaves for later, throw in all the other ingredients together. You can chop up the chives and the u-morok. I remove the heads of the shrimps since I am allergic to shrimps. I realised recently that I wasn’t allergic to its full body, just the heads were a problem. I shred the smoked beef too.
So, the ingredients go into my favourite cooking vessel, the pressure cooker. Add more water if required. Cook it to three whistles and make it stand till the steam settles.
Doesn’t it all look beautiful together?
Get it back to a boil and add the remaining ingredients. Leave the chives and the awa phadigom a little raw so that they retain their fresh aroma.
Serve it over a plate of hot rice. I like my rice brown as it has a nutty aroma. Enjoy!















