What is tapioca? Is it a seed? Is it a bean? WTF is IT?!?

Question

I know it's in pudding sometimes. I know it looks like little pearls before it's cooked and I know it's clear and inflates when soaked. So...what the heck is it?! AND WHY DO WE EAT IT? What kind of nutrition does it have?

Answer 1

it's a fish egg

joking but for the longest time I thought it was....


it's rice from what I know....

Answer 2

Tapioca Seed

Answer 3

that's a good question..the following exerpt from Wiki says it's root.."Tapioca is an essentially flavourless starchy ingredient, or fecula, produced from treated and dried cassava (manioc) root [1]and used in cooking. It is similar to sago and is commonly used to make a milky pudding similar to rice pudding. Purchased tapioca comprises many small white spheres each about 2 mm in diameter (although larger grain sizes are available). These are not seeds, but rather reconstituted processed root. The processing concept is akin to the way that wheat is turned into pasta. These tapioca pearls are made mostly of tapioca starch, which comes from the tapioca, or bitter-cassava plant. In other parts of the world, the bitter-cassava plant may be called "manioca" or "yuca"."

Answer 4

A starch from the root of the cassava plant, tapioca comes in several forms including granules, pellets (pearl tapioca), and flour. The pellets--also called pearl tapioca--are used mainly to make puddings. Instant tapioca and tapioca flour are often used to thicken dishes such as fruit fillings, glazes, soups, and stews. Recipe: Fudgy Chocolate Glaze

Answer 5

The folk with the cassava root answer are right, and btw it makes an excellent thickening agent for soups, stews and pies (not to mention a truly yummy pudding). 1 1/2 tsp of dry tapioca has 20 calories, no fat protein or sodium and 5 g of carbs.

Answer 6

It is also known as bitter-cassava plant or may be called "manioca" or "yuca".
It looks like sweet potatoes & can weight as much as 30 pounds.
Tapioca can make a granules like product called Chowwary. It is used to make a light porridge by adding milk or buttermilk, recommended for patients recovering from illness.
Tapioca can made into flour, the flour is a starch extracted from the root of the tropical. Many chinese used some topioca flour (eg. 1 tsp) to cook vegetable like kai lan or hor fun(noodle) to made the sauce thicker & more delicious or sweeten the flavor of baked goods too.

It can be found in asia countries like singapore, malaysia, indonesia etc...

Answer 7

Tapioca is made from the roots of a type pf tropical plant called cassava (manioc) . It have to go through some drying and fermentation the process is similar to turning wheat into pasta i think. it is native to south america. the nutrition is similar to starch.

Answer 8

Tapioca is a startch derived from a root. When boiled and cooled it produces a pudding like texture.

Answer 9

I want to say that it's similar to rice in that it's a starch that's grown and harvested. It comes from a root though, which seems weird that it would be popular in puddings. I guess rice in pudding is a bit weird too, though.

Answer 10

I'm not sure really but I've always had issues with the word tapioca, it just sounds gross. I don't know why they didn't name it pearl rice or anything but tapioca.

Answer 11

a food substance prepared from cassava in granular, flake, pellet (pearl tapioca), or flour form, used in puddings, as a thickener, etc.

Hope I Helped! :D