Name: Tapioca com Queijo Coalho
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 10 min
Total time: 30 min
Yield: 2 servings
Cuisine: Brazil
Ingredients: 200 g tapioca starch (cassava starch), or 250 g ready-hydrated goma if you can find it; 90 ml cold water, about; add a spoonful at a time; 1 pinch fine salt; 200 g queijo coalho, cut into 4 slabs about 1 cm (1/2 in) thick; 1 tbsp butter, for searing the cheese; 1 pinch dried oregano, optional; 2 tsp honey, optional, for drizzling

Tapioca is a street and breakfast staple in the northeast of Brazil. It is not the pudding: it is a thin crepe made by sieving moistened cassava starch into a hot dry pan, where the grains melt together into a soft, chewy round that is filled and folded. Queijo coalho, a firm, salty cheese that browns instead of melting away, is one of the classic fillings.

The thing that decides the result is the hydration. The starch has to be dampened with just enough water to clump when squeezed, then rested and pushed through a sieve so it falls as a fine, even snow. Too dry and the crepe will not hold together; too wet and it turns gluey in the pan. It cooks in about a minute, so have the cheese seared and ready before you start.

Tapioca com Queijo Coalho is one of the best breakfasts from around the world.

method

Put the starch and salt in a bowl and sprinkle in the water a spoonful at a time, rubbing with your fingertips. Stop when the starch clumps if you squeeze a handful, but crumbles easily when you press it. It should feel like damp sand.

Cover the bowl and rest the starch for 15 minutes, then push it through a fine-mesh sieve with the back of a spoon. You want a fine, fluffy, slightly damp powder with no lumps.

Sear the cheese: melt the butter in a nonstick skillet over medium-high heat and cook the coalho slabs for 1 to 2 minutes per side until deeply golden and blistered. Move them to a plate and wipe out the pan.

Heat the clean, dry pan over medium-low heat for 1 minute. Sift half of the hydrated starch through the sieve straight into the pan to form an even layer about 3 mm thick and 20 cm (8 in) across. Do not stir or press.

Cook for 1 to 2 minutes, until the grains fuse together into one disc and the edges begin to lift. Flip the crepe and cook for 20 seconds more, then slide it onto a plate.

Lay half the cheese on one side of the crepe, sprinkle with a pinch of oregano if using, and fold the other half over. Drizzle with honey if you like, and eat immediately. Repeat with the remaining starch.

chef's tips

Some stores sell tapioca starch already hydrated and sieved (goma de tapioca). Use that if you find it and skip the first two steps.
Queijo coalho is sold in Brazilian and Latin markets. If you cannot find it, halloumi is the closest substitute.
Use a nonstick pan and no oil. The starch sticks if the pan is too hot, so keep the heat at medium-low.
Sweet versions are common too: fill with grated coconut and condensed milk, or butter and a pinch of salt.