Tapioca

Manihot esculenta

Tapioca is a starch extracted from cassava root, a tuber. It is sold dried and used in baking and to thicken foods.

Plant-based
Gluten-free
No listed allergens

About the plain ingredient, not packaged products; general information, not medical advice. Details

Category: Grains, flours & pasta
Made from: Cassava root
Part used: Tuber
Family: Euphorbiaceae
Cooked most in: Asia, The Americas
Top country: Indonesia
Dishes: 34 in the catalogue

Photo: orphanjones from Berkeley, California · CC BY 2.0 · Wikimedia Commons

In the kitchen

How to use tapioca

Typical ways to cook or use it

Bake
Thicken

Preparing it

For jelly, wash the tapioca and soak it in water for three hours. For a griddled flatbread, moisten the starch and pass it through a sieve.

Cooking with it

On a hot griddle, moistened tapioca grains fuse into a flatbread.

Shopping

Choosing and storing tapioca

Sold as: Dried

Around the world

Where tapioca is cooked

34 dishes in the catalogue use tapioca. Here is where they come from.

Dishes by continent

Asia30
The Americas2

Countries whose dishes use it most

Counts are catalogued dishes from each country that list tapioca among their ingredients.

On the table

Dishes made with tapioca

30 of the 34 catalogued dishes that use it, spread across the countries they come from.

Pempek Kapal Selam
Indonesia
Cuñapé
Bolivia
Mingau de tapioca
Brazil
Siomay
Indonesia
Tinutuan porridge
Indonesia
Pais
Indonesia
Pempek lenggang
Indonesia
Yellow tail fish balls
Indonesia
Burgo
Indonesia
Citruk
Indonesia
Getuk pisang
Indonesia
Kue putu mayang
Indonesia
Kue talam
Indonesia
Pempek panggang
Indonesia
Pupudak baras
Indonesia
Tahu bakso
Indonesia
Bungong Kayee
Indonesia
Getuk
Indonesia
Kayu jabuk
Indonesia
Kue gapit
Indonesia
Sunduk lawang
Indonesia
Cilok
Indonesia
I know
Indonesia
Karak kaliang
Indonesia
Sempol
Indonesia
Kue rangi
Indonesia
Cimol
Indonesia
Karupuak lento
Indonesia
Cireng
Pempek Lenjer

Dish lists come from Wikidata; a dish counts when its recorded ingredients include tapioca.

Good to know

Diet and allergens: tapioca in detail

These notes describe the plain ingredient. Packaged and prepared products vary, so read the label; for allergies and medical diets ask a doctor or dietitian.

Allergens: None of the 15 listed allergens foundChecked and not found: soy, eggs, fish, milk, lupin, wheat, celery, sesame, mustard, peanuts, molluscs, sulphites, tree nuts, crustaceans, gluten cereals.
Animal origin: No animal ingredients foundChecked and not found: egg, fish, meat, dairy, honey, insect, gelatin, poultry, bone char, shellfish, other animal, animal fining, animal rennet.
Gluten: None
Alcohol: None
Caffeine: None
Pork: None

Family

Related forms

Made from: cassava root (extracted)

Around the world

What tapioca is called

Names in 44 languages, from Wikidata.

Spanish
tapioca · almidón de tapioca
French
tapioca
Italian
tapioca · amido di tapioca
Portuguese
tapioca · goma · fécula da mandioca
German
Tapioka · Tapiokastärke · Tapiocastärke
Dutch
tapioca
Greek
Ταπιόκα · άμυλο ταπιόκαζ
Turkish
Tapyoka
Russian
тапиока · фаринья
Polish
tapioka · skrobia tapiokowa
Arabic
تبيوكة · تابيوكا
Persian
تاپیوکا

Show all 44 languages

Basque
tapioka
Belarusian (Taraskievica orthography)
тапіёка
Brazilian Portuguese
tapioca · fécula da mandioca · goma
Bulgarian
тапиока
Catalan
tapioca
Chinese
木薯根淀粉 · 木薯粉圆
Czech
tapioka · tapiokový škrob
Danish
tapioca · tapiokastivelse · tapiocastivelse
Esperanto
tapioko
Finnish
tapioka
Ganda
Kalo · Karo
Hebrew
טפיוקה
Hindi
tapioca
Hungarian
tápióka · tápiókakeményítő
Ido
tapiokao
Indonesian
tapioka · tepung tapioka · tepung kanji · kanji
Irish
taipióca
Japanese
タピオカ · タピオカ澱粉 · タピオカ粉
Javanese
Tapioka
Kazakh
тапиока
kge
Sagu (golpung)
Korean
타피오카
Lingua Franca Nova
tapioca
Malay
Kanji ubi
Norwegian Bokmål
tapioka
Norwegian Nynorsk
tapioka · tapiokastivelse
Slovenian
tapioka
Sundanese
tapioka
Swedish
tapioka · tapiokastärkelse
Thai
แป้งมันสำปะหลัง
Traditional Chinese (Taiwan)
樹薯澱粉
Ukrainian
тапіока
Vietnamese
Bột năng
Yoruba
Tapioca

Sources and credits

Data

GlobeCooks editorial: descriptions, kitchen notes and classification, written by GlobeCooks from checked sources
Wikidata: names, classification and dishes (CC0 1.0)
Wikimedia Commons: photos

Wikidata item: Q873761

Photos