← Nouns Cooking · Brazilian & Peruvian

Ingredients

• 160 g tapioca starch (polvilho doce or tapioca flour)
• 90 ml cold water, roughly
• 1 pinch Salt
• 100 g mozzarella or queijo coalho, grated
• 1 tbsp butter, softened

Method

1. Put the starch and salt in a bowl and drizzle in the water a little at a time, rubbing it in with your fingers, until the starch feels like damp sand that holds together when squeezed but crumbles when poked.
2. Push it through a sieve with your fingers to make a fine, fluffy powder (this is the goma).
3. Heat a non-stick frying pan over medium heat, with no oil. Sieve about 4 heaped tbsp of goma into the pan in an even layer and press it flat with the back of a spoon.
4. Cook for 1–2 min, until it fuses into a single pliable disc and the edges lift. Do not flip it.
5. Scatter a quarter of the cheese over one half, fold the tapioca over and cook for 1 minute more, until the cheese melts. Brush with butter and slide onto a plate. Repeat to make 4.

Tips

• Ready-hydrated tapioca (goma pronta) from Brazilian shops skips the first two steps.
• Try sweet fillings too: banana with cinnamon, or grated coconut with condensed milk.

Sources

Written in our own words after cross-checking these recipes:

Brazilian Kitchen Abroad Easy and Delish