Tapioca starch is a powder that is extracted from the cassava plant, a vegetable species native to South America and Brazil. You can use it to thicken stews, soups, and gravies, or you can even replace white flour with tapioca flour for cooking gluten-free recipes.
What is Tapioca?
Tapioca starch, also known as tapioca flour, is very popular for its neutral-tasting qualities and works as a great gluten-free substitute for other flours. It is an essential component in gluten-free flour, which usually contains a mixture of potato starch, almond flour, brown rice flour, cornstarch, rice flour, and xanthan gum.
One can find tapioca flour in the baking aisle of grocery stores. People often confuse tapioca flour with arrowroot starch, another flour that is extracted from the tubers of a rhizomatic plant.
How to Use Tapioca Powder?
If you want tapioca powder to thicken stews, soups, or other liquids, then first you need to make a slurry. To do so, you need to mix equal quantities of tapioca powder with water and whisk the mixture to dissolve the tapioca powder. Then pour the slurry slowly into the liquid and stir to mix it nicely. It is essential to make a slurry, otherwise, it will make the tapioca flour clump in the liquid.
Tapioca starch is not only used as ground flour but it can also be used in other forms. Some of the forms include tapioca pearls or tapioca pudding. One can also make tapioca flour recipes like boba, which is also called tapioca balls. To make this, one needs to combine tapioca powder with sweeteners or sugar to make the chewy texture that is very popular in bubble tea or boba tea.
What are the Health Benefits of Tapioca Flour?
Some of the benefits that one can obtain from tapioca flour are:
1. Gluten Free
Tapioca flour is free of gluten, grains, and nuts, which works great for people with gluten sensitivity, nut allergies, and celiac disease. The manufacturers of gluten-free items often include tapioca powder in their food items. Tapioca flour is also good for baking allergen-free recipes at home.
2. Easy to Digest
Tapioca flour recipes have a reputation for being gentle on the stomach. Consumption of tapioca powder can greatly help in digestion than flour which is made from nuts and grains.
Doctors might suggest tapioca powder as an appropriate source of calories for those who suffer from diverticulitis and irritable bowel syndrome, or IBS, as it can cause digestive problems.
3. Helps to Gain Weight
Tapioca powder is a good source of calories. People who are looking forward to gaining weight might benefit from adding tapioca powder to their daily diet. A cup of tapioca powder offers 544 calories and 135 gm of carbohydrates.
Consuming a bowl full of tapioca pudding every day can help you to increase your weight without increasing the risk of adverse impacts from the ingestion of too many calories and cholesterol. You can also include tapioca in other dishes to increase your daily calorie and carb intake.
4. Provides Calcium
We need to intake calcium to keep our bones and teeth strong. It also helps in other bodily functions, such as:
- Dilation and contraction in the muscles and blood vessels.
- Blood clotting
- Communications between nerves
We lose calcium every day through our urine, sweat, faeces, and skin, as per the National Osteoporosis Foundation. However, our body is incapable of producing calcium without dietary supplementation. Here comes the tapioca powder in the picture. Consuming one cup of tapioca powder can provide 30.4 milligrams of calcium.
5. Contains less Sodium
In the United States, most people consume a large quantity of sodium or salt. One should consume less than 2,309 milligrams of sodium every day, whereas people in the United States consume 3,449 milligrams of sodium per day.
Dietary sodium does not only refer to the salt that we sprinkle on top of our snacks or meals, it also refers to the salt that the manufacturers hide in the packed snacks, condiments, and soups.
A high sodium diet can lead to several health problems, such as heart disease, high blood pressure, and even stroke. One cup of tapioca offers only 1.53 milligrams of sodium.
6. Contains Iron
Tapioca is well known for being a good source of iron. A single cup of tapioca powder can provide 2.4 milligrams of iron. The recommended intake of iron ranges from 7 to 18 milligrams depending on sex and age. However, pregnant women need it in a higher quantity, which is about 27 milligrams.
To activate the consumption of iron from tapioca flour, it is best to intake it with vitamin C-associated foods. It helps to increase our bodies’ capacity to absorb higher amounts of iron.
What are the Uses of Tapioca Powder?
You can easily switch the all-purpose flour with tapioca starch. This works for baked foods and other types of dishes as well. But there’s more that this starchy powder can do. Here are some of the best uses of tapioca powder:
1. Baking Brazilian Bread
Also known as Pão de queijo, Brazilian bread is a traditional bread that is prepared using tapioca starch, eggs, cheese, and milk. For the people in Brazil, this bread is a breakfast staple.
2. Cooking Gluten-Free Recipes
The tapioca powder is usually present in gluten-free recipes. The cooking tapioca powder can be used along with other grain-free baking flours if you are planning to bake/cook gluten-free foods like cakes, bread, grain-free desserts, etc.
3. Preparing Crispy Coatings
If you want to give your dishes an extra crispy texture, then tapioca powder can be a good choice. If you want to cook fried chicken gluten free, then coat it using tapioca powder and not all-purpose flour. The best part is that it does not even soak a lot of oil while frying your dish.
4. Thickening Soups and Stews
The tapioca flour also acts as a great thickening agent. This is because its thickness stays post refrigeration as well – unlike cornstarch.
Conclusion
Acting as an alternative for all-purpose flour, tapioca starch is gluten free and is prepared out of complete carbs. It also includes some amount of protein, iron, and other beneficial nutrients. So, don’t think twice before making the switch!
