Bingka Ubi.

I really dislike when food writers tend to mislabel food. It really shows that they have failed to do their homework and take lightly the history behind the cuisine.

Take for example Bingka Ubi. It is actually a very basic Malay kuih (kuih - meaning cake in malay). A food writer who writes for The Star had labeled Malay kuihs as Nyonya Kuihs without making any reference to the origin of Nyonya cuisine. Apart from Pulut Telang most of the Kuih she labeled as Nyonya Kuihs actually are of Malay origin. However, the Nyonyas, to some extent, have made the kuih's more commercial by adding vibrant colours and sago to make it more manageable.

Ubi literally means tubers. Ubi Kentang being Potatoes, Ubi Keledek being Sweet Potatoes and Ubi Kayu being Tapioca. Ubi Kayu (Kayu - Wood) is such named as when the tuber is left too long in the earth, it becomes woodlike and unedible. There are two types of tapioca, white and yellow. The latter being the sweeter version.

Ubi Kayu is a plant that is easy to propagate. Cut the stem into 1 foot long or slightly less and just stick in freshly turned earth with the buds facing upwards. Apart from being easy to propagate, it is also very low maintenance. Make sure that the earth is properly turned or tilled, so that the root will have sufficient space to grow, and water it on hot days. Other than that it can be left as it grows, unless it is grown in an area where there is wild boar. Tapioca is a favourite food of theirs.

The young shoots of the plant can be cooked as a vegetable. Just blanch it until softened and it is ready to be eaten with Sambal Belacan. Or after blanching it, cook with shallots, belacan, dried whitebait and coconut milk for Masak Lemak. Delicious with hot steaming rice and just fried turmeric salted mackerel. Are you salivating already?

Normally the plant is left to grow until it is 6 feet or so. One way to check to see when it is ready for harvest, is to clear abit of the earth around the base of the tree. If you see that the root is around 4-5 inches or so in circumference it is ready. Cut the tree trunk to around 3-4 feet. Clear the base from any grass or vegetation and slowly clear the earth in a circle of 3 feet. Using a small shovel or hand held cangkul, clear the earth, being careful not to damage the root. Once the root is partly exposed, start rocking the trunk of the tree by pushing and pulling it. The earth will move where the roots are located. Clear it to ensure easy removal. Once you can pull the trunk out with the roots, dig the earth to make sure you have not left any of the useable roots behind.

From personal experience, it is hard but fun work. Get a few people to help out, preferably children (cheap labour!) and supervised by adults. The pulling out part should be done by adults (preferably the men - but from experience the women end up doing this! It's starting to sound like the Hen and the Wheat story!). The effort is worthwhile once you pop a piece of hot boiled tapioca in your mouth!

Tapioca was a starch replacement during the Japanese Occupation years, when rice was a scarce commodity. My father used to tell me stories of those times. My mother was luckier as my maternal grandfather was a plumber therefore during those years could exchange his service for rice.

There are several ways to eat tapioca. First you need to clean it by removing the earth. Cut the root into manageable pieces. Make a shallow slit on the side. The root is covered by two layers of skin. Remove both layers by using the tip of the knife under the second layer of skin and pushing it off the flesh of the root. The layers will easily be removed. Once the roots are skinned, the best thing to do is to place the pieces in water. This will prevent the flesh from oxidising and also help remove any bitterness. From thereon you have a choice of boiling it in salted water, or grating the flesh to make kuih or patties.

The simplest way of cooking it will be to boil it in salted water until it can be pierced with a fork. You can eat hot it with sugar (I know it's not healthy...but that's the way I like it!), with shredded palm sugar and coconut or with sambal tumis. YUM! The important thing to remember that there is an in edible string in the root that needs to be removed before eating or grating.

After grating tapioca, some cooks squeeze water out of the grated flesh and leave the water to stand. A sediment will form. They will throw away the water and add the sediment to the flesh to be used. They believe by doing so it will remove any bitterness. So far I have not encountered any bitterness even if I skip this step. But it does help to drain a little bit of the liquid to make sure that the end product is not too watery.

So back to Bingka Ubi. If a type of Kuih uses the name Bingka, it means that it has been baked. Talam is used if it has been steamed and Lepat if it cooked steamed in individual parcels of banana leaf.

The ingredients: Grated Tapioca, Sugar, Coconut Milk (fresh or boxed/canned), Eggs and Salt. Mix everything together. Pour into a greased tin and bake in 200C oven for 45-60 minutes. If you want it to be nice and brown on top, grill it for a couple of minutes until the top is golden brown. Cool, then remove from tin and slice.

The recipe I used is from a booklet titled 'Malaysian Cakes and Dessert' written by Rohani Jelani and published by Periplus. I find that recipes written by Rohani Jelani are usually dependable and doable. The bingka turned out just like in the photo. The sweetness was just enough to highlight the tapioca without overwhelming it. It is 'lemak' from the coconut milk and the texture softly chewy. A piece is not enough!

Happy salivating!