NOTHING
gives me greater pleasure than to cook something that is freshly plucked from
my own backyard!! Apart from helping to green up the earth, the thought of not
having to spend money to buy the fresh produce keeps me beaming with happiness…(I
lived in Penang far too long…in Penang, people are simply kiam siap which translates to being frugal, penny-wise or kedekut…..whichever way you choose to
look at it).
Anyway, I simply have to pen this down….I keep a journal
about everything. There’s something about being in Langkawi that encourages you
to keep a journal…….!
Anyway, this time I’m beaming with pride as I write about my
home-grown tapioca. In my backyard,
several tall tapioca trees were ready for harvesting a few days ago. In the West Indies tapioca is a staple food.
In Malaysia, it’s not anymore but it used to be during the Japanese Occupation .
Apart from the horror war stories I used to hear from my grandma and mum, the one
ingrained in my mind was that the Japanese soldiers would force all the local
folks to plant tapioca. Why? Because they are recyclable (stem-cut replanting),
are tasty and filling in place of rice which takes time to grow and requires
nurturing, harvesting and processing.
With tapioca, all
you have to do is cut the stems into foot-long pieces and simply stick them
back in the ground after the harvest. Just make sure they’re watered regularly
and do add some fertilizer if you want your fibrous roots to come out thick
like little stumps!!
From where I came
from in our town house in Penang, there was hardly any space to plant these
gluten-free root or rather cassava. Moreover, I was also running around after
news and the earliest I would be home would be after sundown…(so much for any
decent home-cooked food!!)
Two years ago, we made a decision to move to
Langkawi and we’ve been stuck here eversince! The great thing about being here is
that there is plenty of land to grow things. We have a little patch in front of
the house with some shrubs and herb garden. And in the backyard, we have pandan
leaves, lemon grass, laksa leaves (daun kesum), chili, mango, lime and tapioca
(Gardening is so very therapeutic!)
Apart from boiling with other condiments
like they do in the West Indies, you can try making delicious tapioca pudding .
It’s simple and fast! What you need to do is peel off the purple skin, wash and
grate them finely, place the grated tapioca in a sieve and let the tap water
run over the mass (clears away the starchy content). Then put the mass in a
mixing bowl, add a bit of creamy coconut milk (I prefer the cholesterol-free
santan (enough to cover the mass), enough sugar to taste and mix everything
well.
Butter up the baking
tray and bake the mixture till the top becomes golden. Take it out, wait for it
to cool and you get the loveliest tapioca pudding to serve for teatime!
Which brings me
to memories of my childhood where baking tray was lined with banana leaf
instead of butter and the baking was done over charcoal instead of in an oven. The
taste was of course, incomparable!
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·
The
health benefits of tapioca – it’s low in cholesterol and unhealthy fats, it’s a
healthy source of carbohydrate and is gluten-free!. It contains dietary fiber
to help lower cholesterol and prevent colon cancer and calcium, potassium,
magnesium and phosphorous (Source: Livestrong.com)
Enjoy the goodness of tapioca!
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