Tapioca might seem like an odd topic to open up a blog with, but hey, it’s Thanksgiving today and we’ve indulged by making homemade tapioca pudding this morning. The question was brought up, “what exactly is tapioca?” Grain? Seed? Pasta? While I knew it from a root of some sort, I couldn’t remember the details. I pulled out one of my favorite eye-candy books, The Visual Food Encyclopedia, and looked it up.
And in a flash it all came back … Tapioca is derived from the tuber of the cassava (a.k.a. manioc) plant. Tapioca pearls are the dehydrated starch of the tuber. The tuber is macerated and then sieved, drained and dried, and the rendered starch forms a variety size of balls, know as pearls, hence Tapioca Pearls.
When I was in Brazil a man sold tapioca “cakes” from a cart on the street. If I remember correctly these were made with coconut milk. The tapioca pudding we made this morning was made with almond milk. While the recipe called for milk and cream, I wanted a non-dairy version so those of us recovering from colds would be able to breath. We made it with eggs, almond milk (gf), vanilla (gf), salt, sugar and medium tapioca pearls. It turned out pretty “egg-y.” I think next time I’ll try the coconut version and baking it in the oven rather than on the stove top where it has to constantly be stirred while cooking.
A friend of mine sent me an email for this Thai Tapioca recipe from Epicurious. It has some curious ingredients I’d like to try out. When I give it a try I’ll let you know how it turned out:
TAPIOCA PUDDING WITH COCONUT CREAM AND PALM-SUGAR SYRUP
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6 1/4 cups water
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1 cup (1/8-inch) pearl tapioca (not quick-cooking)
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1 pandan leaf, thawed if frozen (optional)
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1/2 cup grated or crumbled dark palm sugar (4 oz) or packed dark brown sugar
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1 (14-oz) can unsweetened coconut milk (do not shake)
Make pudding: Bring 6 cups water to a boil in a large saucepan and add tapioca in a slow stream, stirring constantly. Gently boil, stirring frequently, 5 minutes. emove from heat and let stand, covered, until tapioca is translucent, about 15 minutes.Add 3 cups cold water to tapioca, then drain in a large sieve. Transfer tapioca to a large bowl. Add cold water to cover by 2 inches and swirl tapioca to remove excess starch. Drain tapioca in sieve and repeat rinsing. Drain tapioca again and divide among 6 serving dishes. Chill, loosely covered, 10 minutes, or until set.
Make syrup: Tear pandan leaf into strips and tie strips together in 1 knot. Simmer pandan with sugar and remaining 1/4 cup water in a small saucepan, stirring until sugar is dissolved, until slightly thickened, about 5 minutes. Discard pandan and pour syrup through a fine sieve into a small bowl. Cool to room temperature.
Make coconut cream: Scoop out thick layer of coconut cream from top of can, reserving thin liquid in bottom. Whisk ‚ cup coconut cream until smooth, whisking in 1 to 1‚ tablespoons thin coconut liquid if necessary to get a pourable consistency. Drizzle some of syrup over tapioca and top with some coconut cream. Serve remaining syrup and cream on the side.
Cooks’ notes: • For this particular recipe, we prefer A Taste of Thai, Royal Blossom, Thai Kitchen, or Ka-Me brand of coconut milk because the thin liquid and the creamlike layer are distinctly separated. • Syrup may be made 1 day ahead and chilled, covered. If syrup is too thick to drizzle, bring to room temperature.
