Elbis el Diokang (Tapioca Dish) with Coconut Milk
SHALL WE! This calls for Tapioca peeled and cooked the day of making. For anyone curious, Tapioca is a root starch not sure if it’s a vegetable comparable to potatoes. I’ve looked it up and there’s no definite classification in the food groups. If someone knows please share. The best Tapioca are young pickings, great quality after cooking. In Palauan we call them Chedelumel. It is moist and soft when cooked. The more matured Tapioca will have a harder and dryer outer results when you cook it. The roots have hardened the same as regular mature vegetables. As we call them Ksekikl.
Boil 6 pieces of Tapioca that are about 3 – 6 inches long. For me the cooking process is about the equivalent to cooking potatoes. Using a big pot, I normally place a metal steamer basket in the bottom of the pot, stack the raw Tapioca in the pot evenly halfway or 3/4, and then fill it with water up till touching the top of the stacked Tapioca. Put it on the stove on medium heat for 30 – 45 minutes. Until fully cooked and tender with a fork through it.
After the Tapiocas are fully cooked, let it cool before we start the grinding. First grease the grinder with vegetable oil. Dip the cooked Tapioca in water one at a time before they go into the grinder. This will keep the Tapioca moist, fluffy and stick together. Lay them gently in strands lined up on a plate. Later they will be cut to about an inch, enough to be bite size. It’s okay to have them short, if they separate/ break just fill it back into the grinder and they will stick together better. After the grinding, cut them out to about an inch a piece, then plate them circular or however design is your preference to display your Elbis el Diokang.
Preparing the coconut milk sauce to drizzle/ dress over the grinded Tapioca. In substitute of fresh grated and squeezed coconut milk back in Palau I use the store bought canned coconut milk. For the size of our Tapioca recipe, like me you want to drizzle it, dip it and smother it like gravy sauce! Use 2 cans of 12 / 13.5 oz coconut milk (Depending on brands they have a variety sizes of can). On a small sauce pan at medium heat, bring to a simmer, add 2 tablespoons of sugar (taste for your sweet tooth liking), and add a teaspoon of tapioca starch or cornstarch (optional for gravy look and thickness). Whisk until thick, take it off the stove, then drizzle on your plated grind Tapioca. Now Enjoy your Elbis el Diokang.
*Taking care of our grinder after grinding Tapioca. Place it in a container filled with water and let it sit overnight or a couple hours for the sticky Tapioca to come off easily. Afterwards wash, rinse it with water, then use vegetable oil to grease it and store it away. This will prolong /prevent rust and damage.
