Thai Tapioca Pearl Dumplings Recipes

STEAMED PANDAN TAPIOCA PEARL CAKES

Steps:

• Toss the coconut and salt together in a small bowl; set aside.
• Blend the pandan leaves with 3/4 cup water in a blender or food processor until smooth; strain through a piece of cheesecloth. You should get about 1/2 cup pandan juice.
• Bring 3 cups water and the tapioca pearls to a boil in a sauce pan; cook at a boil until the pearls are translucent and soft, about 10 minutes. Stir the sugar and tapioca flour into the mixture until the sugar is completely dissolved; add the pandan juice and stir until you have a thick batter. Remove from heat and pour into foil cups.
• Bring a couple inches of water to boil in a large pot. Place a few of the cups at a time in a steamer insert and place over the boiling water. Steam until the cakes are cooked through, 10 to 15 minutes. Top the cakes with the coconut to serve.

THAI TAPIOCA PEARL DUMPLINGS

Steps:

• To make the dough, put the tapioca in a bowl and add hot tap water to cover. Swirl twice, then immediate pour into a mesh strainer to drain. Shake the strainer to get rid of excess water. The tapioca will have bloomed and expanded. Wipe the bowl dry and return the tapioca to it. Stir in the just-boiled water and salt, combining well. Cover with plastic wrap and set aside for 1 hour.
• Heat the 1 tablespoon oil in a medium skillet over medium-high heat. Add the cilantro roots and the 1 teaspoon garlic. Cook, stirring constantly for about 1 minute, or until the mixture is fragrant and the garlic is light golden. Add the pork and shallot, stirring and mashing the meat into crumbly bits. Cook for about 1 minute, or until most of the pork has lost its pinkness, then add the fish sauce, brown sugar, and white pepper. Continue cooking, stirring constantly, for about 3 minutes, or until some of the pork has browned and the mixture is hissing and bubbling. Add the peanuts, stirring to combine well. Remove from the heat; taste and add salt and sugar as needed. Aim for a slightly intense salty-sweet flavor. Transfer to a small plate, spreading the filling out, then set aside to cool completely before using. (The filling can be prepared up to 2 days in advance and refrigerated. Return it to room temperature before using.) Makes an ample 1/2 cup.
• Line steamer trays and/or baking sheets with parchment paper, then oil the paper.
• Transfer the tapioca dough to an unfloured work surface. You will initially work with slightly wet hands to prevent sticking and later dust them with tapioca starch to form the dumplings. Dampen your hands with water and knead the dough for about 1 minute into a bumpy ball of tapioca pearls. It may be a bit pasty and squishy, and that is fine. Cut the dough in half, and return half to the bowl, covering it with plastic wrap. Working with the other half, dampen your hands again and roll the dough into a 12-inch log. Cut into 1-inch pieces. With damp hands, roll each piece of dough into a ball. Now, wash your hands and dry them thoroughly. For each dumpling, lightly dust your hands with tapioca starch. Pick up a dough ball and make an indentation in the center with your thumb. Keep your thumb in place as you rotate the dough and press on its walls to create a 1/2 to 3/4-inch deep cup. Holding the cup in the crook of your hand, fill it with about 1 teaspoon of filling, tapping it down lightly. Then close up the opening by pressing the dough inward with your fingers. Should there be a break in the dough, pinch the surrounding pearls together and dab on some tapioca starch to seal. Roll the ball between your hands for an even shape. Set in the steamer tray or on a baking sheet spaced 1 inch apart. Repeat with the remaining dough pieces before working on the other half of the dough. The dumplings can be cooked now or frozen. To freeze, place them in the freezer for about 1 hour, until hard. Then put into a zip-top plastic bag, press out excess air before sealing, and freeze for up to 1 month. Thaw completely in the refrigerator before steaming.
• Steam the dumplings for 20 minutes over boiling water; see page 17 for steaming guidelines. Turn off the heat and remove the steamer lid. After about 3 minutes, the tapioca pearl dough should go from translucent to mostly clear. If it does not, steam for 5 minutes more.
• As the dumplings steam, make the garlic oil. Combine the remaining 1/4 cup oil and the remaining 1 tablespoon garlic in a small saucepan and heat over medium heat. Let the garlic sizzle for about 2 minutes, or until it is blond. Immediately transfer to a heatproof dish and set aside to cool. Put 2 tablespoons of the garlic oil on a platter and set aside.
• When the dumplings are done, detach or remove the steamer tray and let cool for 5 minutes before transferring the dumplings to the platter. Present the dumplings warm or at room temperature, with the remaining garlic oil drizzled atop each dumpling. Serve with the garnishes of lettuce, cilantro, and chiles either tucked onto the platter or arranged on a separate plate. To eat, tear off a palm-sized piece of lettuce and put a dumpling on top. Add a few cilantro and/or mint leaves (pinch their stems off) and a piece of chile. Bundle up the lettuce and enjoy. Refrigerate left over dumplings and steam them for about 8 minutes, or until soft again.

THAI TAPIOCA PUDDING

Steps:

• Rinse tapioca in cool tap water. Drain.
• Place in saucepan with 6 cups water.
• Bring to a boil over medium heat and cook 5 minutes, stirring constantly.
• Drain and rinse.
• Combine coconut milk and 2 cups water in a clean saucepan.
• Add tapioca to milk mixture and bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring constantly.
• Add sugar and salt, stirring until sugar is dissolved.
• Remove from heat.
• Taste and add more sugar or salt as needed.
• Let mixture sit in saucepan for 30 minutes.
• Pour into dessert glasses and serve warm. Serves 8.
• Variation: Serve chilled with 1/4 cup diced honeydew melon added to each serving.

VIETNAMESE TAPIOCA WATER DUMPLINGS

Steps:

• To make the scallion oil, heat the oil in a medium skillet over medium-high heat. When the oil is hot enough to sizzle a scallion ring upon contact, add the scallions and stir immediately to evenly cook. When the scallions have collapsed and are soft, about 30 seconds, transfer to a small heatproof bowl, and set aside to cool completely.
• To make the filling, add the oil to the hot skillet. Add the shallot and cook, stirring constantly, for about 45 seconds, or until fragrant and beginning to brown. Add the pork, stirring and mashing it into small pieces, and cook for about 1 minute, or until it is no longer pink. Add the shrimp, salt, sugar, pepper, and fish sauce. Cook, stirring frequently, for about 4 minutes, or until the flavors have concentrated, there is little liquid left , and the mixture is lightly sizzling. Transfer to a bowl and set aside to cool completely. You should have about 1 cup. (The scallion oil and filling can be prepared up to 2 days in advance and brought to room temperature before using.)
• To make the sauce, combine the sugar, fish sauce, vinegar, and shrimp shell stock in a small bowl. Stir to dissolve the sugar, taste, and make any flavor adjustments. Add the chiles and set aside until serving time.
• To make the dough, combine the tapioca starch, wheat starch, and salt. Make a well in the center and pour in the water. Stir until the water has been absorbed and the mixture is lumpy. Add the 2 tablespoons oil and work it in before pressing the ingredients together into a rough ball. Knead for 1 to 2 minutes on an unfloured work surface, until the dough is snowy white, smooth, and very malleable. Cut into 4 pieces and put in a zip-top plastic bag and seal well. Set aside for 5 minutes to rest before using. This dough can be prepared up to 6 hours in advance and kept at room temperature in the bag.
• Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
• Working with 1 piece of dough at a time to form the wrappers, roll it on an unfloured work surface into an 8-inch log. (If the dough cracks when rolled, a sign of dryness, very lightly oil your hands and knead it into the dough.) Cut the log into 8 pieces. Follow the instructions on "Forming Wrappers from Wheat Starch Dough" (page 133) to shape thick circles that are about 2 3/4 inches in diameter.
• Once a batch of wrappers is finished, assemble some dumplings. For each dumpling, hold a wrapper in a slightly cupped hand. Position about 1 1/2 teaspoons of filling slightly off-center toward the upper half of the wrapper, gently pressing down to compact and keeping about 1/2 to 3/4 inch of wrapper clear on all sides. Bring up the edge and seal to make a half-moon (see page 26 for details on this shape). Seal well by pressing the rim to meld the edges into one. Set the finished dumpling on the prepared baking sheet. Make more dumplings from the remaining wrappers, set them on the baking sheet spaced apart slightly, and cover them with plastic wrap to prevent drying. Continue making wrappers and assembling dumplings. The dumplings can sit for about 1 hour before cooking but cannot be refrigerated.
• To cook, fill a large pot two-thirds full with water and bring to a boil. Add the dumplings in batches of 8 to 12; they should float right up to the surface. After the water returns to a boil (cover the pot if it is a slow go), adjust the heat to gently boil the dumplings for 6 minutes, flipping them midway. They are done when glossy and the rims look mostly clear. Meanwhile, partially fill a bowl with warm water and set near the stove. Spread about one-third of the scallion oil garnish on 2 serving plates and set nearby. Use a slotted spoon to scoop up the cooked dumplings, pausing at the top to allow excess water to fall back into the pot. Deposit them in the water bowl and let them sit in the water for about 30 seconds; this removes excess starch. Transfer them to the serving plates. Cover with an aluminum foil tent or inverted bowl while you cook the remaining dumplings.
• These dumplings are best warm, but are fine at room temperature. Top them with the remaining scallion oil, then present with the sauce. Enjoy with a spoon and fork or chopsticks.