My favourite dessert

It was my daughter's birthday a couple of days ago, and I made one of our family's favourite desserts to have on Sarah's birthday. I also posted a picture of it to my Facebook profile, to share with all my wonderful friends what an awesome dessert we were having and they weren't.

I first came across this dish in Hong Kong when I visited there in 2007. A work colleague from Singapore recommended that I try it whilst in Hong Kong. I did, and fell in love with it. When I went back to Hong Kong in 2009, the first thing I did was find the nearest Hui Lau Shan and get some of their awesome mango sago.

After my first visit to Hong Kong, I searched the web for a decent recipe for this dish. Naturally I found many, and have now adapted my own. It's not identical to what you buy at Hui Lau Shan (theirs is very special), but it is pretty close to what I had in a few other restaurants in HK.

After posting my picture to Facebook, I've had a couple of requests to share the recipe, and so here it is.

Mango Sago

3-4 large mangos (pureed)

1-2 medium fresh mangos, peeled and cubed

1 cup sago pearls (uncooked)

80ml full cream milk

100ml coconut cream

375ml evaporated milk (regular or low fat) - you could also use the coconut flavoured evaporated milk, and leave out the coconut cream above.

1-1½ cups white sugar (more or less to taste)

200ml water


Cooking the sago pearls:

   1. Boil 5 cups water in a pot. Once boiled, add sago pearls and bring to boil again.
   2. Once it boils, cover pot and turn off the heat. Leave covered for 20 minutes.
   3. Remove the lid, stir the mixture, turn on the heat and bring it to boil again.
   4. Once it boils the second time, cover again, turn off the heat and leave covered for 10-12 minutes. The sago should be cooked by now (should be completely translucent).
   5. Drain the sago from the hot water and rinse in cold water. Soak in cold water (to stop it cooking further). When completely cool, drain again and set aside.


In a separate pot, mix the coconut cream, full cream milk, evaporated milk, white sugar and water together. Stir well and bring to the boil, then turn off the heat.

Add the mango puree into the milk mixture and mix well. Combine the sago and puree mixture together in a large dessert bowl.

Allow the mixture to cool completely before refrigerating for another 3 hours (or until chilled).

Serve chilled with fresh diced mango cubes.

In Hong Kong it is common to have this with some fresh pomelo cells sprinkled on top. I've never been able to find pomelo over here, but you might be able to substitute with grapefruit (I haven't tried that yet).