tap-tap-tapioca

bought these gorgeous multicoloured tapioca pearls because they were gorgeous and multicoloured. really, does there have to be a reason for everything? i saw it, i cooked it, took a photo of it, then i ate it. huzzah!

cooking these large tapioca pearls isn't that difficult, but i find it takes quite a long time. you'll need to boil a large pot of water to a rolling boil (roughly 10:1 ratio of water:tapioca), then add the pearls and wait. stir occasionally to keep them from sticking, then wait some more. after 45 minutes, they should go from looking like almost hatching frog spawn (large opaque center, clear membrane), to just fertilized frog spawn (mostly clear membrane, small opaque center). turn off heat, let sit for another 45 minutes to an hour. strain the pearls, rinse with cool water.



i added half the tapioca pearls to a can of coconut milk in a saucepan, and let it cook over medium low heat to reduce the liquid slightly so the coconut coated the pearls better. after chilling in the fridge, i served them with passionfruit syrup (bottled, m'fraid, but make free to use fresh passionfruit pulp should you be so lucky), and a dribble-drabble of sugar syrup made with palm sugar. cool mo' dee.



the other half was added to a cooked coconut custard sauce made from equal parts coconut milk and heavy cream, egg yolks and palm sugar; all ingredients were mixed together and cooked in a saucepan on low heat until thickened. first i spooned in a little of the passionfruit syrup into a glass, then added the tapioca custard mix, and left them in the fridge to cool completely. once out of the ref, i sprinkled palm sugar on the top in an even layered and torched them with my lovely non-paul haig torchomatic device. as i am wont to do. a highly enjoyable activity. a highly enjoyable dessert.