Deciding what to serve for dessert? I recommend you try my homemade Chinese coconut sago pudding recipe using only 5 ingredients. It is chewy, sweet, and coconutty, with a hint of dragon fruit juice. Preparing this recipe takes only less than 30 minutes, making it a quick and easy dessert to serve after a savory meal. If you loved this recipe, try my other pudding recipe too, Eggless Homemade Mango Pudding.
What Is Chinese Coconut Sago Pudding?
Coconut sago pudding is a Chinese dessert commonly served at the end of a meal or as a sweet cold snack. To make this dessert, you only need sago pearls, gelatin, coconut cream, sugar, and dragon fruit juice. It is rich and creamy thanks to the delicious coconut cream base.
With the mixed gelatin ingredient, its texture is silky and smooth after solidifying in the fridge. The sago pearls give the pudding a chewy sensation in every bite. It has a mild fruity taste with a tablespoon of dragon fruit juice.
If you want to increase the sweetness, you can also add sugar. You can make this dessert completely vegan by swapping gelatin with agar agar powder or flakes. If you have extra sago, try making my Mango Pomelo Sago Dessert 楊枝甘露 or Mango Sago Dessert.
What You Should Know About Sago Pearls
A Chinese dessert won’t be complete without the staple ingredient, sago pearls. As you may already know, sago pearls are chewy, round balls added to a dessert to give it more texture. It is a delightfully soft and bouncy ingredient that you’ll surely love with pudding and drinks like Winter Melon Tea.
Sago pearls are usually cooked on low heat under boiling water for 15 minutes. After boiling, let it sit in hot water for an additional 15 minutes to let it absorb more water and become translucent. Then, it is rinsed with cold water to remove residual starch and prevent them from sticking together. You can refer to my guide on “How To Cook Sago” for more detailed instructions.
Sago pearls are typically more expensive to produce and are less accessible in local Asian grocery stores. Thus, most people use Tapioca Pearls as the best and cheaper alternative to sago pearls. You can learn more about the difference between tapioca and sago pearls with my informative guide: Sago Vs. Tapioca Pearls | Is There A Difference?
Ingredient Alternatives Of Chinese Coconut Sago Pudding
The 5 main ingredients of Chinese coconut sago pudding are sago, coconut cream, gelatin, dragon fruit juice, sugar, and optional mango cubes for decoration. All ingredients are easily substituted with the closest alternatives to make your own version of this dessert. Here are some key notes to consider about each ingredient:
- Sago: Sago pearls are typically available in local Asian grocery stores or online. If you can’t find sago pearls, you can use other chewy alternatives like tapioca pearls, popping boba, taro balls, lychee, grass jelly, and coffee jelly. When cooking sago pearls, make sure they become translucent without a white center and is chewy and rubbery to bite.
- Coconut cream: Coconut cream makes the pudding creamy and flavorful. I recommend coconut cream instead of coconut milk since the cream is higher in fat content and thicker in consistency. However, you can still use coconut milk as an alternative, but I suggest making it into coconut cream first. Coconut milk can be turned into coconut cream by chilling it in the fridge to let the water and fat separate. Take the solidified coconut fat and whisk it to become coconut cream. If you have other types of cream, you can add coconut flakes, shredded coconut, or coconut flavoring to make it coconutty. Additionally, you can use milk as an alternative to achieve a slightly different flavor and texture.
- Gelatin: Gelatin serves as a gelling agent that makes the pudding jelly in texture. It is an animal-derived ingredient made from boiled skin, tendons, and bones of cows and pigs. You can swap gelatin for a plant-based gelling agent such as agar agar powder or flakes. Agar agar comes from red algae and can make your pudding jelly-like as well. Keep in mind that 1 tsp of agar agar powder is equivalent to 1 tbsp of agar flakes. The more agar agar or gelatin you put, the more firm the pudding becomes.
- Dragon fruit juice: Adding dragon fruit juice gives the pudding a tropical and fruity taste. Plus, it serves as a natural coloring agent to make the pudding pinkish. It helps balance out the rich flavors of the coconut cream. If you don’t have dragon fruit juice, you can use kiwi, pear, or watermelon juice. These fruits have a closer taste to dragon fruit. To achieve a pinkish color, you can also use the juice of cherries, lychees, or strawberries.If none of these options are available, you can also make the pudding without juice.
- Sugar: If you have a sweet tooth, you can adjust the level of sweetness with sugar, such as white, brown, coconut, muscovado, or maple syrup. It is also possible to omit this from the recipe if you prefer a sugar-free pudding.
- Mango cubes: Once the pudding is firm and removed from the mold, you can add a decorative touch with topped mango cubes. The mango cubes create a diverse flavor, making it sweet and refreshing. You can use fresh, frozen, or canned mango cubes. Garnish it with mint leaves for a subtle sweet and cool sensation.
What You Need To Make Chinese Coconut Sago Pudding
Making Chinese coconut sago pudding requires a pan to boil sago pearls and a mixing bowl to mix all ingredients together. Afterward, you can select the mold shape that you would like the pudding to take. In my recipe, I used round cupcake molds with ridged edges. Here’s a complete list of what you need to make Chinese coconut sago pudding.
Kitchenware
- Pan for heating sago pearls and coconut cream mixture
- Mixing bowl
- Pudding mold
Ingredients
- Sago pearls
- Cold water to rinse sago pearls
- 10g gelatin
- Cold water to soak gelatin
- 200g coconut cream
- 30g sugar
- 1 tbsp dragon fruit juice
- Mango cubes and mint leaves for garnish (optional)
Recipe Instructions To Make Chinese Coconut Sago Pudding
Making the pudding is generally quick and easy once you have sago pearls cooked and ready. The main steps in this recipe are cooking the sago, soaking the gelatin, heating the coconut cream with sugar, pouring the mixture into the mold, and chilling the mold. Watch my tutorial guide on Tiktok and Instagram to get a quick overview of how to make the pudding.
Cook The Sago (You can refer to my guide on “How To Cook Sago” for detailed instructions).
Boil water in a pot.
Once the water boils, add the sago and cook on low heat for 15 minutes while stirring continuously. It’s important to stir continuously to avoid the sago from sticking together.
After 15 minutes, turn off the heat and let it sit in the hot water for an additional 15 minutes. It should become translucent after 15 minutes.
Then, rinse the sago in cold water and set aside.
Soak The Gelatin
Soak the gelatin in cold water for 10 minutes.
After 10 minutes, it should become jelly-like.
Prepare The Pudding Mixture
Pour coconut cream and sugar into a pot.
Heat the mixture on low heat until the sugar melts.
Turn off the fire once the sugar melts.
Then, add the soaked gelatin and stir until it dissolves.
Next, mix the dragon fruit juice until the mixture becomes pink.
Make The Pudding Shape
Prepare your chosen mold.
Pour the mixture into the mold. It is recommended that the mold is filled about 70% full to allow enough space for the sago pearls.
Then, add a spoonful of sago pearls and stir well. The sago pearls should be evenly distributed into the mold.
Refrigerate the pudding for about 4 hours or until it becomes firm.
Once it becomes firm, remove the pudding from the mold and add mango cubes and mint leaf on top.
Enjoy and serve it while cold. The dessert can be stored in the fridge for up to five days.
Homemade Chinese Coconut Pudding With Sago
Equipment
- Pan for heating sago pearls and coconut cream mixture
- Mixing bowl
- Pudding mold
Ingredients
- 80 g Sago pearls
- Cold water to rinse sago pearls
- 10 g gelatin
- Cold water to soak gelatin
- 200 g coconut cream
- 30 g sugar
- 1 tbsp dragon fruit juice
- Mango cubes and mint leaves for garnish optional
Instructions
Cook The Sago (You can refer to my guide on "How To Cook Sago" for detailed instructions).
- Boil water in a pot.
- Once the water boils, add the sago and cook on low heat for 15 minutes while stirring continuously. It's important to stir continuously to avoid the sago from sticking together.
- After 15 minutes, turn off the heat and let it sit in the hot water for an additional 15 minutes. It should become translucent after 15 minutes.
- Then, rinse the sago in cold water and set aside.
Soak The Gelatin
- Soak the gelatin in cold water for 10 minutes.
- After 10 minutes, it should become jelly-like.
Prepare The Pudding Mixture
- Pour coconut cream and sugar into a pot.
- Heat the mixture on low heat until the sugar melts.
- Turn off the fire once the sugar melts.
- Then, add the soaked gelatin and stir until it dissolves.
- Next, mix the dragon fruit juice until the mixture becomes pink.
Make The Pudding Shape
- Prepare your chosen mold.
- Pour the mixture into the mold. It is recommended that the mold is filled about 70% full to allow enough space for the sago pearls.
- Then, add a spoonful of sago pearls and stir well. The sago pearls should be evenly distributed into the mold.
- Refrigerate the pudding for about 4 hours or until it becomes firm.
- Once it becomes firm, remove the pudding from the mold and add mango cubes and mint leaf on top.
- Enjoy and serve it while cold. The dessert can be stored in the fridge for up to five days.
