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Cilok - Indonesian tapioca dumpling balls - drizzled with spicy peanut sauce on a white plate
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5 from 2 votes

Cilok Recipe: Chewy Tapioca Dumplings Balls

Cilok is chewy tapioca dumpling balls that you enjoy with spicy peanut sauce. They're originally from Bandung, West Java
Author: Devy Dar
Prep Time20 minutes
Cook Time20 minutes
Total Time40 minutes
Course: Snacks & Starters
Cuisine: Indonesian
Servings: 20 balls

Equipment

Ingredients

US Customary - Metric

For the Cilok:

  • 1 cup boneless fillet of fish or chicken. see the note.
  • 1 cup plain flour/ all-purpose flour.
  • 1 cup tapioca flour.
  • 3 garlic cloves. minced. Or, 1 heaped teaspoon of garlic powder.
  • 3 spring onions/ scallions. finely sliced.
  • 2 teaspoons salt.
  • ½ teaspoon ground black or white pepper see the note.
  • 1 cup hot water. I use boiling water from the kettle.
  • 1 tablespoon cooking oil. see the note.

For the sauce with peanut butter:

  • ¼ cup peanut butter.
  • 2 tablespoons chilli sauce. I use sriracha sauce. See the note.
  • 1 teaspoon honey or brown sugar.
  • Salt to taste.
  • ¼ cup boiled water. or more if it’s too thick.
  • Sweet soy sauce. optional.

For the sauce with roasted peanuts or deep-fried peanuts:

  • 50 grams roasted peanuts. or fried peanuts.
  • 2 red bird’s eye chillies. or 1 teaspoon red chilli powder (see the note).
  • 1 clove garlic.
  • Salt to taste.
  • 1 tablespoon brown sugar or honey.
  • ½ cup water.
  • Sweet soy sauce optional.

Instructions

To make Cilok:

  • Cut the fish or chicken in chunks. 
  • Place the fish/ chicken in a food processor together with tapioca flour. Process them until it’s smooth. Set aside.
  • In a saucepan, cook the hot water with garlic, salt and ground pepper until it reaches boiling point.
  • Add the plain flour into the water mix and stir well until all combined. You can turn the heat off. The flour mixture will be very sticky like glue. Don’t get disheartened. Just keep mixing until it all looks smooth with no lumps. 
  • Place the sticky plain flour mixture into a mixing bowl and add in the spring onions. 
  • Pour the tapioca and fish/ chicken mixture in little by little as you mix them. Keep mixing until all the ingredients are combined and you get a rather smooth dough.
  • Take a tablespoon of mixture and shape it into a round ball (about 1.5 inches/ 3.8 cm in dia). If the dough is sticky, use two spoons to work and shape the dough. Don’t worry if it’s not perfectly round. Work until all the dough is shaped into small balls.
  • At the same time, boil some water (approx. 1.5-2 litre) in a large pan and add 1 tbsp of oil. 
  • Once the water is ready and boiled, carefully drop the dough balls in it. Do not overcrowd the water with too many dough balls at a time. Because the dough balls will slightly rise and plump up as they are cooking. So make sure you give enough space in between those dumplings. Let them cook until they come upon the surface. Then leave them to further cook for at least 3-5 minutes to ensure they’re thoroughly cooked before you pick them up with a slotted spoon.

To make the sauce with peanut butter:

  • Place the peanuts, chilli sauce, salt and honey/ sugar in a bowl. Using a fork or a small whisk, add in the water little by little as you stir/ whisk the ingredients.
  • Keep mixing until all is smooth. You can add more water if the mixture gets too thick. I prefer the heavy cream consistency. Check the taste. You may want to add the chilli sauce or salt according to your taste. I like my sauce to be savoury and spicy. 

To make the sauce with roasted/ fried peanuts:

  • Place the peanuts, chillies, garlic, salt and sugar/ honey in a blender. Add the water in and process the blender until you get a nice thick sauce. You can add more water if you find the mixture is too thick. I prefer double cream consistency.
  • Put the mixture in a saucepan. Cook it until it’s boiling and simmering for 3 minutes. Check the taste and make sure it’s spicy, savoury with a little hint of sweetness. 

To serve:

  • Put the Cilok on a small dish or a bowl. Pour the peanut sauce over and drizzle some sweet soy sauce (if you use it) according to your taste. You can use a toothpick to eat these Cilok. Like the olden days.

Notes

  • You can use any boneless white flesh fish such as basa, haddock, cod, hake, halibut, etc. If you prefer, you can also use skinless and boneless chicken. 
  • Ideally, we use ground white pepper, but really, ground black pepper is good enough to make these chewy tapioca dumpling balls. 
  • You can use any type of cooking oil to put in the boiling water. The idea is to prevent the tapioca balls from sticking one to another due to the sticky starch of tapioca flour. Vegetable oil, sunflower oil, rapeseed oil, etc. are some of the good choices.
  • Use any chilli you have. Either fresh chillies or dried chilli powder is good. Put more or less chilli according to your taste. 
  • You can use any chilli sauce you like. I often use Indonesian chilli sauce or sriracha sauce.  

Nutrition

Serving: 1g | Calories: 167kcal | Carbohydrates: 22g | Protein: 10g | Fat: 5g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 3g | Cholesterol: 17mg | Sodium: 403mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 4g

Disclaimer

Nutritional info in this recipe is only estimate using online calculator. You should refer to it as a guide only. Please verify with your own data if you seek an accurate info.