Cireng Sriracha

Cireng (short for aci goreng or fried tapioca) is a snack from West Java that is made from tapioca starch mixture. The texture of cireng is chewy and slightly crunchy on the outside if you eat it while it still hot.

Originally cireng is made from tapioca flour and hot water, and sometimes flavoured with garlic or chopped scallions. Along with the times, the seller innovates and combine the dough with cheese (processed cheddar cheese), corned beef, meatballs, sausage or even teriyaki chicken.

Cireng Sriracha

Ingredients

Starter

• 40 g tapioca flour
• 100 ml water or chicken stock

Tapioca Balls

• 100 g tapioca flour, plus more for dusting
• 20 g all-purpose flour
• 1 cloves ginger, grated
• 1/4 tsp freshly grated white pepper
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 stalk scallion, thinly sliced
• Oil for frying

Filling

• 50 g cheddar cheese, grated
• 50 g mozzarella cheese, grated

Sriracha Sauce

• 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
• 2-3 tablespoons honey
• 2 tablespoons Sriracha
• 1 teaspoon soy sauce
• 1 teaspoon lime juice
• Toasted sesame seeds

Direction

• First, put the tapioca flour for a starter in a big bowl. Bring the chicken stock to boil, turn off the heat once it boiling and pour it carefully into a bowl of tapioca flour. Combine tapioca flour and chicken stock with a wooden spoon. At this point, the mixture would seem very wet and lumpy, and that’s totally fine.
• Add sliced grated ginger, scallion, white pepper and salt. Mix well to combine.
• When the mixture still warm but cool enough to handle with hands, add tapioca and all-purpose flour gradually and knead the dough until it becomes soft, smooth and pliable.
• In a medium bowl combine together grated cheddar and mozzarella cheese.
• Divide the dough into 18-20 equal portions. Flatten 1 portion with hands, then place the cheese mixture in the centre, bring the dough upward to enclose the filling. Seal the edge, then gently rolls between your palms to make oval or ball shape. Repeat with the rest.
• Heat vegetable oil in a frying pan until it reaches 180 C. Add tapioca balls, lower the heat to the medium-low, stir the tapioca balls occasionally to fry all sides evenly. Remove from heat and drain on kitchen paper.
• Sriracha sauce: Melt the butter in a small pot over medium heat. Add the honey, sriracha, soy sauce and lime juice. Cook until the mixture bubbles gently and slightly thickened, stir it gradually to prevent the sauce to burn. Turn off the heat.
• Carefully pour the warm sauce over the fried tapioca balls and gently toss to coat. Transfer the tapioca balls to a serving platter and sprinkle with toasted sesame seeds.