How to Make Tapioca Chips and Cassava Flour – II

Sweet potato and cassava are two roots crops that are cultivated in all parts of the Philippines. In some areas of the country, it is eaten almost daily as substitute for rice.

Cassava, also called manioc, mandioc or yuka, is an edible tropical plant that yields tuberous roots from which cassava flour, tapioca (laundry starch), or even an alcoholic beverage can be derived.

How to Make Tapioca Chips

Most of the snack items popular in the market do not have much nutritional value, hence the term junk food. Most in fact contain food preservatives to enhance their flavor and lengthen their shelf life.

Root crops like cassava can be made into nutritional and affordable snacks, Tapioca chips is one such nutritional and inexpensive snacks.

Ingredients

• 2 kilos fresh cassava
• 600 ml cooking oil
• sugar solution prepared from mixing 2 cups sugar and 250 ml water

Materials and utensils

• vial thermometer
• a piece of katsa cloth
• spoon
• small mixing bowl
• wooden ladle
• kitchen knife
• oil strainer
• frying pan
• stove
• slicer (may be ordered from fabrication companies)

Cooking Procedure

1. Wash the fresh cassava tubers with water to thoroughly remove dirt and mud. Put in strainer.
2. Peel after thorough washing.
3. Was the peeled cassava and place back in strainer.
4. Slice thinly crosswise. Make sure the chips are evenly sliced and not thicker than 1.0-1.5 mm. Uniform sizes and thickness ensures even cooking.
5. Wash the cassava chips. Spread on tray.
6. Preheat oil in frying pan until it reaches 160°C.
7. Put some tapioca chips in strainer, and deep fry for 3-5 minutes.
8. Stir the chips around the strainer while being fried to ensure even cooking. Tapioca chips are cooked when bubbles in the cooking oil disappear.
9. Remove strainer with tapioca chips from frying pan.
10. Spread tapioca chips on a piece of clean katsa cloth or any absorbent materials to drain excess oil.
11. Continue frying until the rest of the chips are cooked. Be sure to maintain oil temperature at 160°C.
12. Set aside to cool and prepare the sugar solution.
13. Put sugar in mixing bowl. Gradually add water, stir until sugar and water are thoroughly mixed.
14. Soak the tapioca chips in the sugar solution. Put back chips in strainer to drain.
15. Fry sugar coated tapioca chips in oil. Make sure oil temperature is maintained at 160°C.
16. Remove chips from oil. Drain excess oil and spread chips on piece of katsa cloth.
17. Pack cooled chips. From 2 kilos fresh cassava, one can make 20 30-gram packets of tapioca chips.

How to Make Cassava Flour

Cassava is good substitute for wheat flour. Aside from being inexpensive, cassava flour may be prepared using a simple technology from locally available raw materials. Cassava flour is just as nutritious as imported wheat flour.

Ingredients and Utensils

weighing scale	pail	net
peeler	sack	drying rack
basin with water	ladle	grinder
kitchen knife	wooden brush	chipper (maybe ordered from fabrication companies)
35 kilos of cassava

Procedure

1. Thoroughly wash the 35 kilos of cassava.
2. Peel, then soak in basin of water to prevent the flesh from discoloring.
3. Put peeled cassava in a chipper. Cut the tubers into smaller pieces if these do not fit into the chipper. About 20 kilos of cassava chips can be obtain from 35 kilos of cassava.
4. Transfer cassava chips to a drying rack.
5. Dry chips under the sun for 2 days. Make sure there are really dry as the dryness of the chips will affect the quality of the cassava flour.
6. Prepare the grinder, ensuring the proper calibration to produce fine flour.
7. Grind the dried cassava chips. Two types of flour will be produced from the cassava: fine cassava flour which is used for food preparations and rough floor used for animal feed.
8. The rough flour may be ground again to make it finer. one may obtain 16 kilos of fine cassava flour from 20 kilos of cassava chips.

Part 1 | Part 2 | Par 3 | Part 4

source: www.tlrc.gov.ph, photo from fiiro-ng.org, ctt-reisen.de, chanlilian.net