The least traditional, but easiest way to cook taro is in an Instant Pot. This is an electronic pressure cooker that you can set to cook for a specific amount of time and then completely forget about. It will cook the taro and then turn itself off.
They’re super popular and can be found at pretty much any big block store. Target has them. Otherwise you can order one online.
The Duo is the new “original” model and works great for most people. They’re sized by quart and come in 3QT, 6QT, and 8QT sizes. The 3QT is pretty small – probably disappointing for Hawaiian starches. I’ve used a 6QT for years. You can fit two or three medium sized cut corms in it and can always do several batches, if needed.
Loading the Pot
The magic of cooking in an Instant Pot is the steam. This means you have to fill the bowl with water. If you forget this step your kalo will not cook!
It doesn’t take much liquid. An inch of water in the bottom of the pot is plenty.
From here you can put the steaming rack in the bottom. I usually don’t. The corms sitting in water get slightly more cooked and squishy, but not enough to be worth the headache of cleaning the rack.
Put your pieces of kalo into the pot so that there are air gaps between every piece. This is pretty easy to avoid as long as you don’t place cut faces against each other.
Be sure the pieces of corm are cut down to size so the steam can penetrate, as outlined here.
Set the lid on and turn it to its locked position. Make sure the vent is on “sealed.”
Programing the Instant Pot
Different varieties and thicknesses of kalo take different times to cook. You can program a cook time by pressing the “Steam” mode on the control panel and then adjusting the “+” and “-” buttons until you get to the desired time.
You’ll have to experiment with the best cook time for your kalo. I’ve found that eight minutes does the trick for all but the most stubborn varieties. If that’s not enough you can always increase the cook time or cut smaller pieces.
If you don’t get it right the first time, your corms will be either overcooked (still yummy, but mushy) OR undercooked, in which case you can put the cooking for another few minutes.
The bun-long variety tends to need the least amount of cooking to be edible (why they’re used for taro chips). Try a four minute pressure cook for this type of kalo.
Once you beep the buttons up or down to the correct time, just wait. The Pot will beep several times to let you know it’s starting and then it will start heating up.
The Pressure Cooking Process (What to Expect)
Once the Instant Pot starts heating up, the water inside boils and turns to steam. The steam will begin to whoosh out the pressure hole until there’s enough pressure inside to lift the little sealing mechanism into place. At this point the steam will stop escaping and instead will put its energy into pressurizing the pot.
When it reaches cooking temperature (and full pressure – they’re closely related when pressure cooking), the timer will start at whatever number you set it to in the last step. The kalo is now cooking.
The machine will beep when it finishes the cook cycle and turn itself to “Lo” mode. This is the keep warm mode that will keep the contents hot, but not cook them much further.
At this point the pot is still pressurized. You can either quick release by turning the steam release valve or let it naturally depressurize and cool off. If you quick release the steam, be mindful of your hands. The steam can and will burn you!
Once the Pot is depressurized, the sealer mechanism will audibly drop and the contents will be at the same atmospheric pressure as the room (i.e. safe to open). Turn the lid counter-clockwise to open it and lift it off. Again, be careful since there will be heat and steam left inside, plus the lid is often very hot itself. Use an oven mitt to take it off unless it’s been sitting depressurized for quite a while.