Tapioca Crepes | Brazilian Stovetop Cassava Pancakes

Put the tapioca starch in a wide bowl. Sprinkle the water over it, then rub it between your fingertips to distribute the moisture. Stir in the salt. The mixture should feel like damp sand: it clumps when squeezed in your palm but crumbles when touched. Cover and let it rest.

Press the damp starch through a medium-mesh sieve with the back of a spoon. Break up any lumps left in the sieve with your fingers and sift them again; the starch should be fine, fluffy, and lump-free.

Heat a nonstick or cast-iron skillet over medium heat; do not add oil. For each crepe, sprinkle 4–5 tablespoons of starch evenly into the pan and level it with a spatula. Within 2 minutes, the granules will bind together and turn translucent, and the edges will release from the pan. Flip and cook for 1 more minute.

Fill four crepes: two with savory ingredients and two with sweet ingredients. For the savory crepes, place the cheese and a piece of butter on one side of the crepe, fold over, and cook in the pan for 1 minute until the cheese melts. For the sweet crepes, spread on the shredded coconut and sweetened condensed milk, then fold. Serve immediately; tapioca hardens as it sits.