Tapioca is a starch flour extracted from root tuber of cassava, a bush which grows in South America. Tapioca flour is a binding flour for clear soup and sauces. It is used mostly in the Asian cuisine.
Pay attention when buying Asian products if this binding agent is used. Tapioca flour can be found under a hidden form in Kroepoek, an Indonesian specialty, which is made out of tapioca flour, shrimps and a variety of spices and it is fried to a white bread.
The best alternative is the potato starch or the locust bean gum.
