The market · Grains and flours · Southeast Asia, The Americas

Tapioca flour

Starch from cassava root. It thickens clear, gives chew to fishballs and pão de queijo, and makes batters crisp.

neutral · chewy · stretchy

What to do with it

Classics built on it
SundaneseBatagorFried fish dumplings and fish-stuffed tofu, cut up under a peanut sauce with kecap manis, chilli and lime.No one here has made it yetSundaneseSiomay BandungSteamed fish dumplings with cabbage, potato, bitter gourd, tofu and egg, all steamed together and drowned in peanut sauce.No one here has made it yetBrazilianPão de queijoSmall round cheese breads made with cassava starch — crisp outside, chewy and hollow within.No one here has made it yet

Goes with

fishcheesecoconut milkegg

Knowing it

Where to buy
Asian and Latin American grocers, sometimes as tapioca starch. Brazilian polvilho comes sweet (doce) or sour (azedo).
Worth knowing
Mixed with a little boiling water first, it makes a smooth dough for chewy dumplings and cheese bread.

Kitchens that keep it in

West Java, IndonesiaSundaneseThe cooking of West Java's highlands: raw vegetables and fresh sambal, pond fish wrapped in banana leaf, rice packed hot in a leaf, and Bandung's street snacks.8 classics

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