Edible Landscape - Ubi Kayu (Tapioca or Cassava)

Many of us are familar with the tapioca as a good carbohydrate food source and some are familar that is used to produce a popular food flavor enhancer commonly known as monosodium glutamate or MSG.  A widely-known brand in Malaysia is Aji-no-moto.  There are many grandmother stories that eating a lot of MSG causes you to go bald but I have yet to find scientific proof of this.  However, our "grandmothers" are wise and as in many traditional Malay grandmother stories, there must have been some reason as they tend to use euphemisms.  

There are many varieties of tapiocas but at the farm three types are planted - ubi kayu merah, ubi kayu pulut  and multi-colored leaf tapioca which I have named ubi kayu bunga.  We do not plant the ubi kayu kuning as these are not as tender and has a more fibrous texture thus is used mainly for making tapioca chips or kerepek ubi kayu and fermented tapioca or tapai.  

Ubi kayu pulut leaf shoot

Both the ubi kayu merah and  ubi kayu pulut have green leaves but the young leaf shoots of the ubi kayu pulut has a dark red tinge and takes about 4 months to produce good-sized tubers which breaks easily whilst the ubi kayu merah has a light green young leaf shoot and takes 8 months to produce good-sized tubers which breaks with a "snap".  The leaves of both these varieties is edible.  In Malay cuisine, it is often cooked in coconut milk on its own or with dried or fresh shrimps.  It is also a great ulam ,which is done by blanching the leaves, to eat with sambal belacan.

The tapioca plants can be used as windbreakers or as an ornamental with the added benefit of being an edible addition to your landscape.  I paticularly love the multicolored leaves variety and plant them at the banks of my fish pond,  This variety though is a slow grower and it produces a tender tapioca in about 10 months.  There is also another variety that we plant at the farm which has a more needle-like leaf shape.  This variety doesn't produce edible tubers and is planted for the leaves, which is more tender than the normal variety.  

The tapioca plant is propagated using stem cuttings that have at least 2 "eyes" visible above ground level when planted.  At the farm, it is planted at a 45 degree angle.  I normally dig a hole about 6 inches deep and place the stem  (about 9 inches long) at an angle.  It is important to place the stem with the eyes upwards or else you will have funny-looking stems sprouting.  The tapioca produces tubers best in slightly sandy soil mixture with a good amount of organic matter and in sunny areas.  Heavy clay soil is not conducive to the production of tubers and you will end up with more fibrous roots.  We fertilise it 1 month after planting and will rake more soil around the base after fertilising.

Tapioca is gluten free, rich in starch and contains a significant amount of calcium, phosphorus and vitamin C and protein free however the leaves are a good source of protein and rich in amino acid lysine.

The ubi kayu pulut tastes creamy and is the most tender of the species,  I have even eaten this raw.  It takes 10-15 minutes to cook and has a "fluffy" texture.  According to "grandmother" stories, this was the favourite kind to replace rice during the Japanese occupation of Malaya.  The ubi kayu merah is also tender when boiled and takes about 15-20 minutes to cooked when boiled.  I prefer using the ubi kayu merah for desserts because it is "sweeter" and less creamy as our Malaysian desserts for the tapioca tend to include the use of coconut milk so the dessert may turn out to be too rich tasting.

For whatever dish you want to prepare, the tapioca is best cooked within 1-2 days after harvest.  If you want to cook it a few days after buying, do not wash it or remove the outer layer of the skin and this will affect the taste and texture of the tuber.  To test freshness, you can try to break the tapioca tuber and if it tends to "bend" than it is not so fresh.

Updated: 12 December 2014

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