1. How is Tapioca Starch made?
Essentially, cassava root is peeled, washed and chopped. Then it is rasped (finely shredded) and the resulting pulp is washed, spun, and washed until the mixture is primarily starch and water. The starch is then dried and called Tapioca starch.
Tapioca starch is a wonderful thickener that is superior to arrowroot starch and potato starch. It provides a crispy crust and chewy texture in gluten free baked goods. Some people choose tapioca because they cannot eat corn or potatoes for health reasons and tapioca starch is a wonderful alternative.
2. Tips for using tapioca starch to replace other ingredients:
Tapioca starch is used as thickner similar to many other starches, but the price is better. So many users have considered replacing other starches with tapioca starch.
One of my clients once wondered how to replace corn starch into tapioca starch. She is a long-time customer who buys our tapioca starch for industry. And at that moment, she asked me about the small tips she could apply in her kitchen.
We have collected the tips in the process of trading tapioca starch. And then we gave all for her. Its usefulness make her so happy. Those are:
- Cornstarch in baking: Replace 1 tablespoon cornstarch with 2 tablespoons tapioca starch.
- All Purpose Starch in thickening: Replace 1 for 1.
- Instant Tapioca Pearls: For every 1 tablespoon of quick-cooking tapioca pearls use 1 1/2 tablespoons of tapioca starch. Mix the the starch with any dry sugar in an uncooked pie filling or make a slurry with a small amount of the liquid before heating in a pre-cooked pie filling, then slowly add the slurry back into the pie filling and continue to cook the filling at a simmer for 5-10 minutes or until the cloudiness from the tapioca starch has turned transparent.
