P
Indonesian
Cilok: The Sundanese Tapioca Ball
Cilok (abbreviation of *aci dicolok* — "tapioca dipped/skewered") — chewy tapioca-starch balls, boiled or steamed, served on skewers with peanut sauce or sambal. From West Java (Sundanese). The simplest possible street food — starch, water, salt, shaped, boiled, sauced.
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I
The Market List
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250 g
tapioca starch
Origin · BrazilNot yet stocked in British Columbia
150 ml
water
boiling
Your own market
1 tsp
salt
Your own market
For the peanut sauce
150 g
roasted peanuts
ground to a coarse paste
Not yet stocked in British Columbia
2 tbsp
sweet soy sauce (kecap manis)
1
red chilli
finely sliced, or sambal to taste
Not yet stocked in British Columbia
100 ml
water
warm, to loosen
Your own market
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II
The Method
1
Combine the tapioca starch and salt in a bowl. Pour the boiling water over the starch in a thin stream, mixing continuously with a spoon or chopstick until a cohesive, pliable dough forms. The dough is ready when it pulls cleanly from the sides of the bowl and no dry powder remains.
2
Pinch off portions of dough and roll between the palms into balls of approximately 2–3 cm diameter. The surface should be smooth and free of cracks; a cracked ball will split in the pot.
3
Bring a large pot of salted water to a full rolling boil. Lower the balls in batches. This is where the dish lives or dies: the water must maintain a vigorous boil throughout cooking, not a simmer, so the starch sets rapidly and the balls hold their shape rather than dissolving into the pot. Cook until every ball has risen to the surface and floated there for a further two minutes.
4
Remove the balls with a slotted spoon and drain. They are done when they are translucent at the surface, firm to a gentle press, and yield a pronounced chew without stickiness at the centre.
5
Thread the cooked balls onto bamboo skewers, three or four to a skewer. Prepare the peanut sauce by combining the ground peanut paste, kecap manis, chilli and warm water, stirring until smooth and pourable. The sauce should coat a spoon in a thin, even layer. Serve the skewers with the sauce spooned over or offered alongside, with sambal if desired.
From the canon — Kecap manis — thick, sweet, molasses-like soy sauce — is arguably the single most important seasoning in Indonesian cooking. Kecap Manis: The Sweet Soy That Defines a Cuisine →
III
Quality Hierarchy
01
Reserve — Premium-grade Indonesian tapioca starch, finely milled and perfectly dry, yields the most uniform chew and the clearest, smoothest ball. Peanuts roasted and ground to order.
02
Estate — Good-quality tapioca starch from a specialist Asian grocer; freshly ground dry-roasted peanuts for the sauce.
03
Market — Standard supermarket tapioca starch; pre-ground roasted peanut paste adjusted with kecap manis and chilli to taste.
04
House — Any available tapioca starch; jarred peanut sauce loosened with water and sharpened with sambal. The essential chew of the ball remains intact regardless of rung.
IV
Sensory Tests
◇Touch. The raw dough pulls cleanly from the bowl and rolls without cracking under the palms.
◇Sight. The balls rise to the surface of the boiling water and remain floating — the signal that the starch has set.
◇Touch. A cooked ball pressed gently between two fingers rebounds with a firm, even resistance and no wet, collapsing centre.
◇Sight. The surface of each ball turns from opaque white to translucent, indicating full starch gelatinisation.
◇Where it lives or dies. The boiling water must remain at a vigorous, rolling boil for the full duration of cooking; a drop to a simmer causes the balls to dissolve before the starch can set.
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VI
What to Pour
Sweet, lightly spiced iced tea (teh manis) or a cold lemongrass infusion; the sugar and mild acidity cut the dense, starchy richness of the balls and temper the heat of the sambal. The dish is street food and calls for no wine register.
The whole pairingPillar VII
Origin and lineage are part of membership.
Where the dish comes from and how it came to be — on every recipe.
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