Taro Delight

Consistent taste quality and intigrity since I first purchased Tom’s taro products 5 years ago.
Taro Delight is superior quality local product!
I feel proud to share with others.
Today I ate whole container of «German potato salad styled Taro salad!» It was that addictively yummy!
Evil Jungle curry sauce and Taro Limu Poke and the Salmon Laulau!

I’m a taro lover. These products float my boat. If you’re lucky enough to catch this guy at a farmers’ market, try the laulau. It’s awesome. I tried his taro poke for the first time. It was very good and did manage to capture the easence of poke. The owner is very friendly and informative.

I LOVE taro. From when I was a kid growing up in American Samoa where it was the main staple, and eating a lot of it.
So when I read about Taro Delight and Tom Purdy and his novel uses of taro, I had to check it out. I caught up with Tom at the Ala Moana Farmers’ Market Saturday morning. Tom sells a Taro Salmon Laulau hot from his steamer, ready-​to-​eat or chilled to-​go for $ 6.50 per. I bought mine to go.
The laulau is a decent piece of salmon belly atop 2 cross-​cut (i.e. round) pieces of Okinawan sweet potato enveloped by luau leaves; and the whole shebang wrapped up in ti leaves in the conventional fashion. Tom’s directions to microwave for 2 minutes on one side, then 1 minute on the other were right on. The combination of the salmon taste, with the smoky taste of the luau leaves, and sweetness of the sweet potato makes for a decidedly un-​conventional taste. Good. And more healthy than the conventional pork laulau to boot.
I also bought a 0.5-pound container of Tom’s Smoked Taro Limu Poke for $ 4.50. Bite-​sized cubes of taro mixed with sesame oil, minced limu and green and white onions, and small chili pepper flakes for just a twinge of heat. Also good. Add shoyu as to fish poke. Better.
Tom gets his dry-​land taro from Kauai. Cheaper he says, as land prices on Oahu make wet-​land taro too expensive. When I asked him why he got into taro food products, Tom responded with one word — «cholestrol». As in, he had high cholestrol, so incorporated taro in his diet. Now he’s promoting the health benefits of the magic tuber to our community. I hope to get more info. on the man and his mission, and report back to Unilocal-​dom.
For now, suffice it to say, he’s got a couple of winners that deserve your attention.

Everything good. Taro Poke is sooooo good. BUT… THE WINNER is the Lau Lau! Ho My God this is the best lau lau ive had in my life! Salmon belly, so flavorful and melting… Okinawan sweet potato, so moist and delicious. Yes yes yes!

We pick up Tom’s concoctions at the Ala Moana farmers’ market on Saturdays. I was VERY skeptical of this whole taro poke business, but it’s actually totally delicious — and I say this as a lover of fish and dairy. It’s not just for vegans! He’ll let you sample the different kinds if you’re unsure — my favourite was the taro «salad.» Tom also cooks up an amazing salmon + taro wrapped in taro leaves at his stand. Yummm.

I never thought i’d associate taro with the words poke, mustard, sandwhiches, and yummy.
I first had my taste at the Ala Moana Farmer’s Market. He had his containers laid out to sample, and was really friendly in doing so. I hate when I’m made to feel bad for sampling something… But he was all for people trying every taro creation he had! And man they were ALL SO GOOD.
$ 5 for a small container. Like an inch high. So not a lot. But damn they’re so yum!
He makes everything with taro, and they’re nice vegan choices.
His famous taro poke is seasoned just like limu poke, but instead of fish he uses chunks of taro! And it’s an awesome substitute!
The taro almost tastes like potato, but has a unique texture.
He also makes taro mayonnaise, mustard, taro salad (like potato salad but taro!), and other spreads. They’re very flavorful and hearty for spreads. Great for sandwiches and dips.

Walking through the Haleiwa Farmer’s Market before Hangin’ with the Honus up the road at Pupukea, This man asks,” Would you like to try some Taro Poke?”
I’ve had all kinds of poke in my lifetime, from ahi and aku, to kona crab, raw crab, and even king clam poke.(My first Job was at Yama’s Fishmarket when there was a shop at the Westgate Center in Waipahu) but never had I heard of or even tasted taro poke…
One taste of Tom Purdy’s Limu Taro Poke, and I was hooked!!! It was cool to «talk story» with Tom and his pursuit in painstakingly refining his passion in bringing a healthy, nutritious alternative to the table, also a great substitute for hapai women (AKA «preggos»)
I bought a container and that was gone in a matter of minutes. You da man Tom Purdy, You da man… ALOHA!!!
Unilocal 365 CHALLENGE-(68/365) «Poi’s Cousin»

Smoked Taro Limu Poke. I ate the whole container in minutes!
So I spot this guy with a table at the Windward Mall farmers market just as I get off the elevator at the second level. Samples of everything were on the table with tooth picks provided. I overheard him introducing the taro dips to someone as I walked past.
So I turn around and walk back to the guy. «What is this stuff? Is this vegan? How do you make it? Where do you make it? Do you use oil in making it? What is the fat content? Is there dairy in it? Are there eggs in it? Taro Poke?»
He patiently answered all my questions. Amazing because he must have to explain his products about once every 10 minutes while standing at the table. Plus, he is dealing mostly with nut case vegetarians/​vegans like me.
I ended up buying 2 of his dips to try out. He didn’t have any more Taro Poke left that day.
The dips were pretty good but less than exciting. The real problem is that normally you are going to use a dip with chips or crackers. Fried chips… not too good… crackers…better but still have a high fat content. So good luck in finding a nutritious item dip into the container. (rye-crisp…ewe!”)
I tried the Poke a couple of weeks later. Way better than I expected. This you can eat all by itself as a stand alone item.
The guy, Tom Purdy, I later discover has been written up in newspapers and magazines. Innovative product and the story about how he started the business is equally interesting.
Taro Delight is worth checking out. I hope Tom is really successful with his products. He deserves it.
Update: 5÷16÷12
New item at the Windward Farmers market. Salmon Taro Lau Lau. The hot lau lau at $ 6.50 each is so good it would be at home in some fancy «fusion» restaurant. Five Stars on this one! This could easily out shine his famous signature Taro Poke. People love lau lau and this is the best of the best.

The first time I tasted Tom Purdy’s taro poke was when a friend bought some at the KCC Farmers Market and brought it to a party. I was hooked! If you’re a vegetarian, pregnant (or don’t care for raw fish) this poke is worth trying! And even if you’re not it’s still worth trying :))
We used to buy his salmon lau lau with taro at the Kailua Farmer’s Market, but he no longer sells there. Luckily he sells his poke and taro dips at the Windward Mall Farmers Market and some of the other farmers market. His dip and poke is also available at Tamuras in Aikahi (Kailua).
His newest product is a «potato» salad made without mayonnaise. It’s awesome… and healthy is a side benefit!
Unilocal 365 Challenge: #33/​365

Man, I love taro. Flavorful, hearty, and can be prepared in so many ways. So when I heard of Taro Delight, I knew I had to try it, some day, some how. Not more than a month later my girlfriend and I visit the new Ala Moana Farmers Market
and there it is! The taro poke? Yep, it was good, better than I expected. To my surprise and «delight» there were a handful of other taro-​based foods there. I LOVE the taro salad (like potato salad), and this spicy taro mustard like spread/​dip. thing. Oh man! The taro salad is healthy and mayo-​less, it has a nice tangy-​ness to it, probably from dill, capers and whatever else was in it. It also has very nice consistency and textures. Yum! The spread gives sandwiches a tasty kick! It also works as a pretty strong dip.
Wish I could get the taro salad in a bigger container, in the small one it felt a little pricey at $ 5. A side note, the guy who makes this stuff seems to be a stand-​up fellow. Though he had a bunch of people at his booth talking to him, he was friendly and took the time to answer my questions. He seemed very passionate about this stuff, which is always awesome to see. I’ll be going back for more soon!

What is worthy of an 800^th review?
Taro Poke created by Tom Purdy for his business — Taro Delight.
As some of my fellow Unilocalers may have noticed, there has been absence of sushi restaurant reviews despite how much I love the raw fish and hence, my lack of attendance at the many UYEs at AYCE sushi joints in Vegas.
So what makes Taro Delight so special of #800? Well, it’s perfect for those who are hapai, which is me. What does that mean? Taro poke is a wonderful alternative when it’s not recommended that you consume raw fish at this point in your life… at a time when you’re pregnant.
And yes, I am pregnant.
Taro Delight makes this amazing taro poke that mimics the wonderful tastes of poke with raw fish, but they make it with taro. (Taro is a tropical Asian plant that has large leaves but it’s the large starchy root plant that is often used.) The dish is pretty simple — mixing taro root with the ingredients used in poke (minus the raw fish) and you get something just perfect. I was hesitant when I took my first bite, not sure if it would live up to my standards and it did just that. I was impressed. Sure, you can tell it’s not fish, but the other flavors are there and I do miss that… especially when you’re in the land of poke.
They also make five flavors of taro dip (including taronnaise), two flavors of smoked taro mustard, taro lau lau, two variations of taro poke, and taro salad. You can usually find him at the Kapiolani Community College Farmers on Saturday mornings and some of his packaged products at the local Whole Foods in Hawai’i.
Spending your babymoon in Hawai’i isn’t the most ideal when you love eating raw fish (especially poke). But for the time being, it satisfied my craving for the taste of poke and it has me wanting more. Can someone bring some back for me?
Don’t you think this was worthy of an 800^th review?