It seems a bit crazy to me that despite making many, many gallons of mango sago each summer and even unofficially rebranding the warmer months as ‘sago girl summer,’ that I’ve never shared my mango sago recipe on here. If you piece meal it all together across several social media posts, you’ll get the full recipe for a version of my fruit sago recipe. It’s my go-to ‘recipe’ for the summer time and I say ‘recipe’ in quotations because no batch of mango sago is ever the same. There is a base recipe or formula but the beauty of mango sago, or any type of fruit sago, is that you can adapt and adjust it to become your very own mango sago recipe.
For me there are four key components to the best mango sago:
- Fresh mango
You can’t have a mango sago without fresh mango. The riper the mango the better. I like to use mango in both the ‘soup’ itself and as well as a mix-in ingredient. - Sago pearls
Do not mistaken sago pearls with tapioca pearls or boba from bubble tea. Sago pearls are much smaller in size (though you could find large sago pearls in some Asian grocery stores) and less toothsome than a boba pearl. They’re often white and will turn translucent when cooked, while boba pearls are much darker in colour. What is great about sago is don’t get firm like boba pearls when refrigerated. They will get softer and expand in size due to soaking up of the liquid they are in, but the centres of the pearl will remain soft to eat. - Textural ingredient (like coconut jelly or popping boba)
Mango sago with just fresh mango and sago pearls makes a perfect dessert, but introducing a third ingredient adds some textural contrast and fun to the mix. I like adding coconut jelly, palm seeds, or fresh pomelo segments to my mango sago. Popping boba is also a fun choice! Lately I’ve been adding mango pudding to my sago as well. - Creamy base
This is the foundation of your mango sago. Mango and sago are the star players but mango sago wouldn’t be a dessert without the dessert ‘soup’ that marries all these ingredients together. I like using a mixture of mango puree or pulp, coconut milk, and oat milk for my base.
Your guide to other types of sago:
Sago is not just limited to mango. In fact, I love incorporating seasonal fruit in all my sago recipes. These are some of the other varieties of sago I’ve made in the last few years, ones that are worth repeating:
Corn Sago
This is one of my personal favourites because my love for corn knows no bounds. Sweet corn is my favourite summer produce and I will find ways to incorporate it into all types of desserts (like corn cookies and corn ice cream). It only seemed natural to make sweet corn sago. The base is coconut milk and oat milk, and for the mix ins, we have corn kernels, sago, and mini tang yuan (glutinous rice balls).
Peach sago
Peach sago is such a treat. Peach sago season occurs in my kitchen when local BC peaches start arriving at the market. Just like mango sago, I like including peach in both the ‘soup’ and as a mix in. The peach milk pairs is the perfect base for fresh peaches, coconut jelly, and sago pearls.
Melon Sago
Honeydew sago is something I ate regularly growing up, both as the dessert course at Chinese restaurants and at home when my mom makes it during the summer months. Melon sago (usually made with honeydew) is light and refreshing, and perfect for warmer days. There is one thing you must note when making melon sago. Use coconut milk and a non-dairy milk for the base — melon has this weird reaction with dairy milk and will turn bitter overtime. I like using a mix of coconut and oat or almond for melon sago.
Mango Pomelo Sago
Mango pomelo sago is a classic combo (楊枝甘露). Make mango sago exactly the way you would normally, but add pieces of peeled pomelo or grapefruit along with other mix ins. The tartness of the citrus makes it extra refreshing.
Strawberry Sago
Strawberry sago is a fun take on strawberry milk. Strawberries are included in both the milky base as well as a mix in. Strawberry sago is more tart than other sagos, so I like to use a bit more condensed milk for balance. The beauty of any sago dessert is that you can add less or more condensed milk and taste as you go. I like adding the usual suspects (sago, coconut jelly, fresh strawberries) as well as lychee in strawberry sago.
Kabocha Sago
Kabocha sago is perfect towards the end of summer, when there is more of a chill in the air and the desire for all things pumpkin starts creeping in. Kabocha is starchier and sweeter than regular pumpkin, making it a great mix in and good way to thicken up the base of the dessert. I like adding yam and taro balls to kabocha sago right before serving.
The Best Mango Sago
Ingredients
- 2/3 cup sago pearls
- 4 mangoes
- 2 cups coconut jelly
- 2 cups full-fat coconut milk
- 1 cup milk of choice (I like using oat!), *see note
- 3/4 cup sweetened condensed milk, or more if the mangoes are not as ripe
Instructions
- In a large pot, bring water to a boil. Add sago pearls and cook on medium heat while stirring constantly to prevent pearls from sticking to the bottom of the pot.
- Cook pearls for 10 minutes, the pearls will still have a white centre. Remove the pot from heat, put the lid on and and cover for 15 minutes. The pearls will get plumper and the white centre will disappear. Once pearls are ready, drain the water and run the pearls under cold water until they are no longer hot. Set aside.
- Peel four mangoes and set one to the side. Cut three mangoes into 1/2-inch cubes. Cut the flesh of the reserved mango and transfer it to a blender. Blitz until mango becomes a purée.
- In a large bowl, combine mango purée, coconut milk, milk of choice, and condensed milk. Mix until combined. Add cut mango, coconut jelly, and sago pearls. Add more condensed milk if you want to the mango sago to be sweeter.
- Cover mango sago and transfer to refrigerator and chill for at least an hour. Serve once chilled.
- *Mango sago will thicken once chilled and will get thicker as it sits. Simply add more milk to the sago to loosen it back up if desired.
![day two: sparkly matcha neapolitan shortbread cookies ✨
the instructions might seem confusing, but if you watch the video to see how the different flavour layers are stacked, it will make much more sense! these slice and bake cookies freeze extremely well so you can make the dough now and bake them off when you want to gift them. (makes 40-44)
vanilla dough:
85g (1/3 cup + 2 tsp) unsalted butter, room temp
45g (6 tbsp) powdered sugar
2 tsp vanilla
90g (3/4 cup) all-purpose flour
1/4 tsp salt
matcha dough:
85g (1/3 cup + 2 tsp) unsalted butter, room temp
45g (6 tbsp) powdered sugar
90g (3/4 cup) all-purpose flour
2 tsp culinary matcha powder
1/4 tsp salt
strawberry dough
85g (1/3 cup + 2 tsp) unsalted butter, room temp
45g 6 tbsp) powdered sugar
90g (3/4 cup) all-purpose flour
2 tbsp freeze-dried strawberry powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 egg white
coarse sanding sugar
for the vanilla dough, combine butter and powdered sugar in a bowl. mix until smooth. add vanilla. add flour and salt and mix until no dry streaks remain. do the same for the matcha and strawberry doughs in separate bowls
place one portion of the dough between two pieces of parchment paper and roll into a 5 x 9-inch rectangle that is about 1/4-inch thick. slide rolled out dough onto a baking sheet and freeze for 10 min until firm. repeat this step with the other portions of dough
remove the top piece of parchment from each slab and stack the strawberry, vanilla, and matcha dough layers. cut the slab down the middle the long way to form two 2.5 x 9-inch rectangles. with one half, carefully swap the order of the layers (example: if the first half of the dough is stacked svm, swap the second half so it’s msv. this will ensure that same flavour squares don’t stack on each other). stack the halves. press the layers gently to adhere them. return the stacked dough to the freezer for another 10min
[recipe cont’d in comments]
#christmasbaking #christmascookies #holidaybaking #holidaycookies #cookiedecorating](https://constellationinspiration.com/wp-content/plugins/instagram-feed/img/placeholder.png)
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