Difference btw Tapioca flour and Rice flour?

[septembre]

Jan help! What's the difference btw Tapioca flour and Rice flour?
Can both be used to make batter?

[Janny]

yo sept
tapioca flour is made from tapioca (cassava). you know that log looking kinda thing with a 'string' in its centre. normally you can get a steamed tapioca with coconut milk pour on it as dessert in thai restaurant.
rice flour is made from rice.

i have never used tapioca for making batter. normally i used a mixture of plain flour + rice flour. rice flour would make your fried food crispier. like if you want to fry stuffed yu-tiao or stuffed taupok. my simple formula is 2 parts rice flour to 1 part plain flour + salt + pepper + water to your liking (depending what sort of consistency you want). btw.. add the water bit by bit while stirring. stop when it is the right consistency. don't add eggs as they soften the fried food.

i think tapioca flour is more popular in making kueh.

btw have you tried the banana fritter yet? i have to wait for the hubby to have some flat beer ;D

[Janny]

just want to add: i have been using tapioca starch to starch hubby's business shirts to great success. make them look crisper and smoother.

[septembre]

Oh I bought rice flour yesterday but didn't get plain flour.
Can plain flour or rice flour be used alone to make the batter?
The last time, I bought the Jap tempura flour to make my batter so i don't hve this headache.

Oh my mum once told me we can use pancake flour to make batter too! i remember trying it when I was in Oz. I think it turns out good. I bought some pancake flour too yest. Will try out the two methods and see which one is better. ;D

One more question. Is tapioca starch and corn the same? I use corn starch to make the sauce for my vege etc. Can tapioca starch do tt?

i hvent tried to beer batter yet too cos i'm waiting for hubby to get some beer. haha. Maybe we'll have lots of them next year when CNY nearing.

Do you spread the tapioca starch over your clothes? I do know starch can make clothes nicer. Is it tapioca starch they used?

[Janny]

you can use plain flour on its own, but i personally don't like it. your batter will be soft. rice flour on its own will be too hard, i think

anyway, what do you plan to fry? some times you can just coat your food with beaten egg, then roll it with breadcrumb and fry it. nice and crunchy too.

when you said you make sauce using corn starch, do you mean you use corn starch to thicken it? Yes you can use corn starch, potato starch or arrow root starch to do that. But i never use tapioca before, so don't really know. I suppose you could because it has got that gluey texture

To starch clothes you need to make a starch solution. Here is what I normally do after observing my mum doing it for years:
1. Boil some water
2. Put about 2 tbsp (or more depending on how strong you want the starch to be) of tapioca starch in a large pail.
3. Add 1 cup of tap water, stir until starch dissolves and the solution is cloudy.
4. Add 4 cups of hot boiling water, stir again until the solution became nearly transparent.
5. Add 2 more cups or cold water so that the solution is manageable, not too hot to handle. If it is too thick for your liking, add more water and stir again.
6. Dip your clothes in the starch solution, ensuring that they are evenly covered. If too hot, use rubber gloves.
7. Spin dry the clothes
8. Dry as usual. I use tumble dry, but line drying is good also. My mum does it all the time

I am not sure what is in the commercial starch though. Probably also tapioca huh ;D and some perfume added. But they are pretty expensive, especially the spray ones and last a few uses only.

[Janny]

Sept
Just checked with my mum, she said yes, you can use tapioca to thicken your dishes

[gina]

hi septembre and Janny

Tapioca flour or starch(sometimes it called starch too) is used in making asian kuehs. It can be used for batter mix but must be mixed with other types of flour. If you do not have enough cornstarch for thickening soups or gravy, you can use tapioca flour/starch. But do not use more than 50g of it. Or the gravy becomes a gooey-sticky mass.

Rice flour is also use for making asian kuehs. But its gives a different texture when its cooked.

For example, the Teochew Soon Kueh uses Rice Flour and water to mix to form the white dough skin. When steamed(cooked) the skin is firm, yet tender to the bite.

Hakka Soon Kueh uses mashed Yam and Tapioca Flour to mix to form the grey dough skin. When steamed(cooked) the skin is CHEWY yet able to stay together.

Examples of use of Rice Flour in batter mix will be Tempura mix. Where you can add a bit of Rice Flour with Corn starch and ICED water.

to mix a good batter that stays crispy for a longer period of time is to mix

2 parts of Glutinous Rice Flour with
1 part of Plain flour or Tapioca Flour and
1 tbsp Baking Powder

After deep fried, the outer skin is golden and crispy, the inside is a bit soft and chewy and the baking powder makes the batter puffs up more.

About Tapioca Flour and Cornstarch..they are not the same thing.

Just remember than Tapioca Flour/starch will make your recipe very sticky, gooey.

but Cornstarch and Corn flour is the same thing

I hope I didn't confuse you further..!