Tapioca chips are a

snack A snack is a small portion of Human food, food generally Eating, eaten between meals. Snacks come in a variety of forms including Food packaging, packaged snack foods and other processed foods, as well as items made from fresh ingredients at ho ...

food made from thin wafers of deep-fried

cassava ''Manihot esculenta'', common name, commonly called cassava, manioc, or yuca (among numerous regional names), is a woody shrub of the spurge family, Euphorbiaceae, native to South America, from Brazil, Paraguay and parts of the Andes. Although ...

root. It is commonly found in

South India South India, also known as Southern India or Peninsular India, is the southern part of the Deccan Peninsula in India encompassing the states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Telangana as well as the union territories of ...

, and

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, also known historically as Ceylon, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, separated from the Indian subcontinent, ...

, as well as in

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania, between the Indian Ocean, Indian and Pacific Ocean, Pacific oceans. Comprising over List of islands of Indonesia, 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, ...

where it is known as '' kripik singkong'' (cassava chips), and in Malaysia known as 'kerepek ubi'. It is also a bulk commodity product that is produced and traded, and in this form is used to create products such as alcohol, animal feed, biofuel, and starch.

Overview

The dish is prepared using raw cassava tubers, whereby the inner rind and outer skin are removed. The chips are then fried or deep-fried in

coconut oil Coconut oil (or coconut fat) is an edible oil derived from the kernels, meat, and milk of the coconut palm fruit. Coconut oil is a white solid fat below around , and a clear thin liquid oil at higher temperatures. Unrefined varieties have a disti ...

, salted, and often spiced with red chili powder. Tapioca chips have a longer shelf life compared to raw cassava tubers. The snack is sometimes purveyed and consumed as a

street food Street food is food sold by a Hawker (trade), hawker or vendor on a street or at another public place, such as a market, fair, or park. It is often sold from a portable food booth, food cart, or food truck and is meant for immediate consumption ...

. Some companies

mass-produce Mass production, also known as mass production, series production, series manufacture, or continuous production, is the production of substantial amounts of standardized products in a constant flow, including and especially on assembly lines. ...

and purvey prepared tapioca chips that are packaged in bags.

Variations

India and Sri Lanka

The snack is widely available in

Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is the southernmost States and union territories of India, state of India. The List of states and union territories of India by area, tenth largest Indian state by area and the List of states and union territories of Indi ...

Kerala Kerala ( , ) is a States and union territories of India, state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile ...

Karnataka Karnataka ( ) is a States and union territories of India, state in the southwestern region of India. It was Unification of Karnataka, formed as Mysore State on 1 November 1956, with the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, 1956, States Re ...

, and

. High in carbohydrates, it is a crunchy and flavorful snack food, and the chips are crunchier compared to banana chips and potato chips. Common variants include the non-spicy and spicy (red chili pepper powder and other spices added).

Indonesia

Thinly sliced cassava is deep fried to be made as '' kripik singkong'' crackers (cassava chips or tapioca chips). Next to potato chips, cassava chips are a popular snack in Indonesia and are often spiced with various flavors. Some are mass-produced and purveyed under various brand names in stores and supermarkets. A variant of hot and spicy ''kripik singkong'' coated with sugar and chili pepper is known as ''kripik balado'' or '' keripik sanjay'', a specialty of

Bukittinggi Bukittinggi (, Jawi script, Jawi: , formerly ) is the third largest city in West Sumatra, Indonesia, with a population of 111,312 in 2010Biro Pusat Statistik, Jakarta, 2011. and 121,028 in 2020.Badan Pusat Statistik, Jakarta, 2021. An official es ...

city in West Sumatra.

Commercial tapioca chips

Tapioca chips and pellets are also produced, sold, and traded in bulk as a commodity, and are used to make starch, alcohol, and

biofuel Biofuel is a fuel that is produced over a short time span from Biomass (energy), biomass, rather than by the very slow natural processes involved in the formation of fossil fuels such as oil. Biofuel can be produced from plants or from agricu ...

. The product is also used as animal feed in Kerala and Madras, India, and for this purpose, processing typically involves only the removal of the outer skin of the tubers. Commercial varieties typically consist of the sliced and dried cassava tuber and are not fried in oil.

References

External links

* * {{Deep fried foods Deep fried foods Indian snack foods Indonesian snack foods Kerala cuisine Sri Lankan snack food Cassava dishes