What is Tapioca?

Hello.  We had a heavy rain this morning in Hokkaido.  It was annoying but I felt comfortable with cool wind in the afternoon.

 

A campaign to raise funds was held in HGU today afternoon.  A bill said that we could get a cup of tapioca drink if we raise some money for earthquake victims in the Tohoku district.  A friend of mine who looked at it raised 10 yen and got a cup of drink.  It was the first time for him to have tapioca, and he didn’t like its taste.  Then he asked me, “What’s tapioca?  Do you know?  Is it a kind of rice cake?”  I couldn’t answer him because I didn’t know about tapioca well.  Therefore I researched about itJ

 

Tapioca is a starch extracted from Manioc (Manihot esculenta).   Tapioca pearls are known as boba in some cultures. It is produced by passing the moist starch through a sieve under pressure. Pearl tapioca is a common ingredient in Asian desserts such as kolak, in tapioca pudding, and in sweet drinks such as bubble tea, fruit slush and taho, where they provide a chewy contrast to the sweetness and texture of the drink.  Large pearls are preferred for use in drinks.  Not only are they used in the aforementioned drinks, they are also available as an option in shave ice and hot drinks.

 

It’s a little funny that the Japanese name of cassava (manioc) is Imonoki, means the tree of potatoes.  How simple name it is!