Taro Sago
A remarkably simple and delicious dessert. Perfect for a cold winter day; it will comfort and warm your soul. I didn't actually grow up with this dish, but I recently had an Asian desserts season, and this was at the top of my list. It turned out delightful; I will definitely be making this for large group desserts in the future.
Active Time: 20 min
Total Time: 35 min
Ingredients
> large taro (1 lb, diced into 1/2 inch cubes)
> small tapioca / sago pearls (1/2 cup)
> rock sugar (50g)
> coconut milk (3/4 cup)
> evaporated milk (1/4 cup)
> condensed milk (2 tbsp)
Instructions
Preparing the tapioca pearls:
1. Bring >4 cups of water to a boil. Add the tapioca pearls and cook for ~15m, or until almost fully translucent. Stir occasionally to prevent sticking.
2. Pour the tapioca pearls into a strainer, rinse with cold water, and let sit in cold water until ready to use.
Preparing the taro soup:
1. Bring 3 cups of water to a boil in a separate pot. Add the rock sugar and half the cubed taro. Let simmer for 10-15m, or until taro is soft.
2. Add coconut milk, evaporated milk, condensed milk, and remaining cubed taro. Bring to a simmer, and let cook for 10-15m, or until taro is soft.
3. Taste and adjust sweetness levels to your preference.
4. Add the drained tapioca pearls, mix, and serve hot. Enjoy!
Notes/Tips:
> Rock sugar is a type of sugar that you'll often find in Chinese grocery stores. It's often sold in solid shapes in vacuum sealed packages. It's a little less sweet and has almost like a honey taste to it. If you can't find it, consider substituting it with a little bit less granulated sugar.
> Make sure you use large taro (it's similar in size to daikon), not small taro. Large taro has less water content and more starch, which helps make the soup thicker. I like to use the vacuum-sealed large taro from hmart.
> The purpose of the first batch of taro is to (mostly) disintegrate into the soup and thicken it. The second batch of taro is meant to cook to the desired texture and give actual chunks of taro.
> The ingredient amounts above are probably enough for ~4 servings or so. Feel free to adjust accordingly, based on how much you want to make.
> I mostly pulled the recipe from smelly lunchbox (https://smellylunchbox.com/taro-sago/). I adjusted the ingredients amounts slightly -- the first time I made it I found that the soup was too watery and needed more tapioca pearls, so I reduced the amount of water slightly and increased the amount of tapioca pearls.