China · Chinese
Taro in savoury broth
A Luoyang water-banquet accompaniment built on taro, fried first and then braised in broth with a few supporting ingredients. Soft and starchy, savoury with a light chilli note. Public reference · home adaptation, not a historical original.
Public reference · Home adaptation Songyu is the mostly-vegetable member of the eight accompanying courses. Public reporting traces it to the home kitchen rather than palace kitchens, noting it appears at New Year and wedding and funeral feasts, in line with the Luoyang habit of cooking humble ingredients banquet-style. Published menus record only the name; this version follows public food reporting and is not a one-to-one match to that menu. **This entry previously also cited a Zhihu column page (zhuanlan.zhihu.com/p/492193137); in this pass Zhihu returned 403 to every non-browser client and the body could not be opened by either curl or web_fetch, so that source has been removed. The method here rests on the remaining openable sources listed above.****Name check and honest limits**: the verifiable public material consistently makes ordinary taro the main ingredient, fried and then braised for the banquet. No credible source explains 'songyu' as a century-egg-and-taro combination, so that reading is not used here. This entry is **menu-evidence based**: published banquet menus record the name only, so the method follows the fried-then-braised route described in public food reporting, and the accompaniments, oil temperature and timings are editorial for four servings. It is not a standard Luoyang restaurant recipe. Whether 'ruyi' carries some other shaping meaning could not be verified and is not explained. Contains soy (light soy) and sesame. Taro itself is plant-based, but this version uses stock, so it is lacto-ovo vegetarian rather than vegan. Raw taro sap irritates skin, so wear gloves; it must be cooked through and never eaten raw. 顶端新闻：河南美食·特色松芋 — Songyu as a classic dish among the eight Luoyang courses, rooted in home cooking: ordinary taro turned into a banquet dish by the simple techniques of frying and braising, common at New Year and wedding and funeral feasts. https://www.topnews.cn/news/145CDFE747B04974 FDA: Food Allergies — Basis for declaring soy (light soy) and sesame allergens. https://www.fda.gov/food/food-labeling-nutrition/food-allergies AI-generated illustration; not kitchen-tested.
Ingredients
- taro, peeled and cut into chunks600 g
- cooking oil for frying400 ml
- stock (pork or chicken bone)800 ml
- dried shiitake, soaked and sliced20 g
- dried wood-ear mushroom, soaked and shredded15 g
- green peas, blanched40 g
- ginger, sliced10 g
- garlic, sliced10 g
- scallion, cut into sections15 g
- dried chillies, cut into lengths4 g
- light soy sauce20 ml
- salt3 g
- white pepper powder1 g
- sesame oil5 ml
Directions
- 1
Peel the taro with gloves and cut into chunks, then soak in cold water to wash off the sticky surface. Soak the shiitake and wood-ear in advance and slice or shred them.
- 2
Heat oil to about 180°C, add the taro and fry over medium-low heat 4 minutes until the outside firms and turns pale gold, then drain. Taro sugars burn easily, so keep it moving.
- 3
Pour off most of the oil, leaving a little, and fry the scallion, ginger, garlic and dried chillies until fragrant.
- 4
Pour in the stock, bring to a boil, add the shiitake, wood-ear and fried taro with the light soy and salt, and simmer 10 minutes so the taro takes on the flavour.
- 5
Add the green peas and cook 2 minutes more, season with white pepper, turn off the heat and drizzle in sesame oil.
- 6
Serve in a shallow bowl with the broth. A water banquet dish is always served soupy, and it tastes best hot.
Source: WorldBite · public-reference adaptation · Source-attributed editorial adaptation; AI illustration; not an authenticated original recipe.