Mangoes are in season and this year, I wanted to experiment with things I’ve never made before! It’s often humbling how going out of my comfort zone ends up giving me something magical and this Mango Sago Pudding turned out to be one such dessert for me.
Looking for some mango dessert inspiration, I decided to call up my friend Sara who lives in Singapore and loves cooking and experimenting with fresh seasonal produce. She inspired me to make this famous Singaporean dessert, Mango Sago Pudding, which is the perfect dessert for mango lovers!
What is Mango Sago Pudding?
Mango Sago Pudding is actually a contemporary Hong Kong dessert, traditionally made with diced mangoes, sago pearls, sliced pomelo, and coconut milk. Being super easy, versatile, and delicious, it’s found in the menu almost all Chinese restaurants! Pomelo, which is almost similar to grapefruit, adds a beautiful texture and tanginess to this dessert. In addition, it’s advised to chill the pudding for a few hours before serving to allow all the different flavors to blend together.
Sago vs Tapioca
Sago is an edible starch that comes from tropical palm trees. On the other hand, Tapioca pearls are made with tapioca or the starch from the cassava plant. Both are white in color and are used often for making delicious puddings and other recipes. When cooked, they become spongy and gelatinous. In India, tapioca pearls are commonly known as Sabudana, but only the pearls of Sabudana are slightly bigger than that of Tapioca. I’ve used Sabudana for making my Mango Sago Pudding, you can use Sago pearls if you have them.
Tips for making Mango Sago Pudding
Even though this dessert is quite easy to whip up, I’ll still mention some tips that will help you get that Mango Sago pudding perfect in the first attempt-
Use good quality mangoes
This is extremely important as mangoes are the base of this dessert. The mango is blended with milk and coconut milk, which is then topped with Sago pearls and grapefruit. This means that we need to choose the sweetest mangoes we can get our hands on! Do not use different variants of mango when making this pudding as it will change the flavor of the dessert.
Cook your Sago properly
The sago pearls/sabudana needs to be cooked in appropriate amount of boiling water in order to make this pudding. Once put in boiling water, remember to keep stirring the pearls so that they are uniformly cooked and translucent. Don’t overcook them, as it would lead to a big, gluggy lump of pearls. The cooked sago pearls need to be rinsed in cold water to get rid of excess starch before putting them in the blended mango and milk mixture.
Chill your pudding
Since this dessert has a plethora of different flavors, it’s necessary to chill it after all the elements are combined. In other words, have patience! Let all the ingredients blend with each other and you’ll absolutely enjoy how it turns out to be.
Other mango recipes that you can try this summer
I really hope you guys will make this make Mango Sago pudding at home this summer and if you do, don’t forget to tag me on Instagram and use the hashtag #Bakewithshivesh. Happy Baking!
- 2 cups of cubed mangoes
- ½ cup milk
- ¾ cup coconut milk
- 4 tbsp soaked and boiled sabudana / sago pearls
- 4-6 sections of Grapefruit for garnish
- Diced Mango for garnish
- Soak the sabudana pearls in water for an hour.
- In a large pot, boil some water.
- Add the soaked sabudana pearls to this water and cook for 15 minutes. Keep stirring, so that they cook uniformly.
- After cooking it for a while, take it off the heat. The pearls should look translucent.
- Rinse the pearls with cold water to remove the starch.
- Blend the cubed mangoes, milk and coconut milk to a thick, smooth consistency.
- Pour this mixture in two serving bowls and add 2 tbsp boiled sabudana pearls to each bowl.
- Garnish with diced mango and sections of grapefruit.
- Chill for at least two hours before serving!
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