Tapioca Recheada

Ingredients

• 250g tapioca granules (goma de tapioca or polvilho hidratado)
• 80ml water
• 1/2 tsp fine salt
• 150g queijo coalho or halloumi, sliced
• 30g butter
• 2 tbsp desiccated coconut
• 2 tbsp sweetened condensed milk
• 1 ripe banana, sliced

Before you cook

• Tip the tapioca granules into a bowl and break up any hard lumps with your fingers.
• Sprinkle over the water and the salt and rub the mixture through your hands until it feels like damp sand.
• Cover the bowl and leave it to hydrate for 10 minutes.
• Push the hydrated tapioca through a fine sieve into a second bowl so you are left with a loose, fluffy powder.

Steps

1. Set a non-stick frying pan of about 20cm over a medium heat and leave it dry, with no oil at all.
2. Sprinkle a quarter of the sieved tapioca evenly across the base of the pan and level it with the back of a spoon into a thin round.
3. Watch for about 90 seconds as the starch turns from powdery white to a solid, slightly translucent sheet.
4. Loosen the edge with a spatula and flip the tapioca over.
5. Lay the sliced cheese across one half and cook for another minute until it softens.
6. Add a knob of butter beside the cheese and let it melt in.
7. Fold the tapioca in half, press it lightly and slide it onto a plate.
8. Repeat with the remaining tapioca to make three more.
9. Fill one of the remaining pancakes with the condensed milk, coconut and banana slices for a sweet version.
10. Serve at once, as tapioca turns leathery once it cools.