Colocasia, Elephant Ear, Taro 'Piialii'

Also known as Ahapii, Moiula, Mokohe.
Distinguished by broad crinkly leaf blades and short, stocky dark green stems tinged with pi...Read Morenk.
Influorescence: peduncle yellowish-green; spathe 26-33 cm long, yellowish-green often tinged with red, the upper portion yellow.
One of the most important of the wetland poi taros.

This Taro is grown for making Poi from the root as well as for baking, The root is moist and very good eating when baked.[ most commercia...Read Morel Taro root is a little dry, like Bunn Long] . The leaves and stems are good to eat as a cooked vegetable. ALL PARTS OF THIS PLANT MUST BE COOKED BEFORE EATING. The root may be baked or boiled, the leaves and stems must be boiled in salt water to destroy the calcium crystals that irritate the mouth and throat, and then used like spinach.
I did a taste test with Pii Alii Corm ,[I had big nice Corms this year]
This is what I discovered--
It has a lot of Calcium Crystals in the skin [enough to irritate my forearms when scrubbing them with a stiff brush]All of the skin should be removed before eating,
-It has good flavor but older corms are a little rubbery, and would be good in stews and soups that cook for a while, as Pii Alii will hold some of the texture and shape of the pieces, [where most Table Varieties turn kind of mushey in prolonged cooking]. I still enjoyed the pieces I
fried, the flavor was great and the texture not so rubbery or fiberous to be a problem, -The leaves need 30 to 40 min boiling time, a little longer for older leaves. The Corm color is still red after steaming, [that was cool] - I can see why it is a such a good Poi Taro. [makes red Poi]