Tapioca is a flavourless, colourless, odourless starch extracted from the root of the plant species Manihot esculenta. Tapioca is a staple food in some regions and is used worldwide as a thickening agent, principally in foods. Tapioca is gluten free, and nearly protein free. The commercial form of tapioca most familiar to many people is pearl tapioca.
Pearl tapioca is similar to pearl sago, which is used in essentially the same ways. Consequently, tapioca may be called sago, and vice versa.
Coloured tapioca sticks
Commercially, the starch is processed into several forms: powder, fine or coarse flakes or meal (“flour”), sticks, and “pearls”. Flakes, rectangular sticks, and spherical pearls must be soaked well before cooking, to rehydrate them; they will easily absorb water equal to twice their volume, becoming leathery and swollen. All these products traditionally are white, but sticks and pearls may be coloured. The oldest and most common colour is brown, but pastel colours are now available. In all its forms tapioca starch is opaque before cooking; after cooking it becomes translucent.
Pearl tapioca
Pearls are made in several sizes, ranging from about 1 mm to 5 mm. In the United States, 2-3 mm pearls are the most common size and are labelled “small”. In good quality pearl tapioca, the pearls are very uniform in size, smooth, and few are broken. The pearls must be further prepared before use. For use in tapioca pudding, pearls are prepared simply by soaking them overnight in water. For use in tapioca drinks, they are prepared by boiling for 25 minutes, until they are cooked thoroughly and are chewy, though not gummy, then allowed to cool. If not used immediately, they may be kept for hours in a syrup of sugar or honey.
Pearl tapioca is easily confused with pearl sago, an equivalent product made from a different starch. In Indonesia these are sometimes multi coloured and nicknamed Pacar Cina
In Southeast Asia, the cassava root is commonly cut into slices, wedges or strips, fried, and served as a snack, similar to potato chips, wedges or French fries. Another method is to boil large blocks until soft, and served with grated coconut as a dessert, either slightly salted or sweetened, usually with palm sugar syrup. Tapai is made by fermenting large blocks with a yeast-like bacteria culture to produce a sweet and slightly alcoholic dessert. A variation of the chips popular amongst the Malays is kerepek pedas, where the crisps are coated with a hot, sweet and tangy chilli and onion paste, or sambal, usually with fried anchovies and peanuts added.
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