Tapioca Pudding - cooking recipe

Ingredients

3/4 cup pearl tapioca
2 cups cold water
4 cups milk
2/3 cup sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preparation

Soak tapioca in cold water overnight or for at least 3 hours.
Heat milk until it is steaming, not boiling.
Drain excess water from tapioca and add to the hot milk, stirring constantly and scraping the bottom with a wide flat utensil until it is steaming again--do not boil.
Immediately reduce heat to very low, lower than the setting for cooking white rice, just hot enough to see a few vapors.
Stir often the first few minutes then add the sugar and salt; and additional milk if needed.
Check and stir the bottom of the mixture about every 5 minutes and add milk as needed to maintain a consistency similar to oatmeal cooking.
Cook for about 45 minutes or until the tapioca pearls are translucent (no white specks in the center) and the mixture is sufficiently thickened.
(Notes: One may thicken the hot sweetened milk and tapioca in a double boiler although a heavy saucepan is fine if given careful attention--this pudding will scorch easily if you're distracted! Should problems appear, immediately transfer to another pan; avoid and discard anything caramel or brown colored).
When thickened and the pearls are translucent, stir in vanilla and transfer to a bowl or individual pudding cups.
Cover and chill--serve with whipped cream and cinnamon or fruit.
(Note: The pudding will thicken more as it chills).