What main ingredient is used to make taro cake?

The main ingredient used to make taro cake is taro.

Taro cake is a Cantonese savory dim sum dish made primarily from taro, a starchy tropical corm. The taro is combined with rice flour and liquid to form a dense mixture, which is usually steamed until set and then cut into rectangular slices.

Restaurants commonly pan-fry the slices before serving, creating a browned exterior while keeping the inside soft and savory. Depending on the recipe, the cake may also contain pork, Chinese dried mushrooms, or Chinese sausage, and it is often finished with chopped scallions.

Taro cake is easy to confuse with turnip cake, another classic dim sum item. Turnip cake is based on daikon, also called Chinese white radish, whereas taro cake uses taro. Rice flour is an important structural ingredient in both dishes, but the named vegetable—and the defining flavor—is taro. Similar versions are known as yam cake in Malaysia and Singapore.