Sometimes the simplest foods can take you on a great journey through your memory bank. This was one of them.
I was at work one day when a co worker approached me with a little container of something he was going to eat.
"You want to try some of this?" he asked.
"No thanks" I replied. "I'm not in the mood for something sweet but thanks anyway".
"No really, just try a little. My mother made it." He insisted.
"No thanks I really don't want any."
"How rude!" He jokingly said.
"All right! I'll try it!" I said as I grabbed a spoon.
I tasted what was sweet coconut milk with corn and sago swimming in it. It was made by my co worker's Vietnamese mother.
It was quite soupy, and I tell you, it tasted like a blissful dream. In fact I felt like I must have had something like this during my first four years of life in Bangkok where I was born.
This further led me to a memory of my childhood, when I was around 10 years old.
My mother had already passed a couple of years before that. My Canadian father was not exactly, what one would label a cook. He tried. Most meals were simple, boiled or steamed or reheated from a can. I didn't expect any more than that.
One day he surprised me. He announced that he would be making tapioca pudding. I don't recall if I had actually had it before. Perhaps out of a can.
All I can say, is that my father making tapioca pudding, was the strangest and most intriguing thing, I could have ever imagined.
It was now time to revisit tapioca pudding, but with a plant based, coconut milk, and mango twist. My father had used real milk and real eggs.
I used tapioca pearls that were not instant.
Tapioca pudding
1 cup tapioca soaked in two cups of water overnight
800 ml coconut milk
1 1/2 cup raw cane sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon vanilla
3 tablespoons vegan egg (optional) I used Just Egg
2 large mangoes
Soak the pearls overnight. Rinse and drain water. Add two cups of water and the pearls to a pot. Bring to a boil and simmer until the pearls are translucent and jelly like with no white spots. Do not cook them too much after this state. They will cook in the milk for a while after this.
Drain, rinse and set aside.
I am not an expert at cooking tapioca but I used my instincts and it all worked out. I did not follow a particular recipe, but got ideas from several. There were some instructions on the package how to cook the pearls.
Add 800 ml of coconut milk, sugar, salt and vanilla, to a pot and simmer until sugar is dissolved.
Sugar is something I do not consume very often, so it was a strange feeling to be adding it to this pot. I was okay with it this time.
Add the cooked tapioca pearls to the milk.
This has to be stirred frequently to keep it from sticking to the bottom. There was enough milk in it that it wasn't a problem. I stirred quite a bit anyway.
The vegan egg was stirred in at the end. It didn't seem to be needed but for nostalgia sake I used the Just Egg product. It is not easy to find but I can get it now and then. It's produced from mung beans, and cooks up much like egg.
When the pudding had thickened, I put it in the fridge to cool.
It was not planned originally, but I decided to add mango. I have had mango sticky rice with coconut milk, and I love it. Adding mango to this could be similar.
I don't often splurge on good mangoes, because of their price. I decided to anyway.
There is a store nearby that sells amazing fruits so off I went. I found some large perfectly ripe mangoes, and took them to the counter to pay.
When she asked me for 10 dollars, I had to pretend that I wasn't shocked. These were the most expensive mangoes I remembered ever purchasing.
As I was peeling them I could see the nice colour, and the sweet fragrance of the mango, assured me that it was worth the price I paid.
It was so juicy when I cubed them to garnish. It was decided that I would puree half of them to a sauce and use the chunks as well.
There was no need for more sugar. The mango was very sweet on it's own.
I added the tapioca to the glass, then drizzled the mango sauce over top, along with a couple of chunks of mango. I had strawberries and blackberries to use up in the fridge. They, along with a sprig of mint was a nice garnish.
But that was not the end of the garnish.
I remembered that I had some toasted coconut that I could sprinkle on top.
A couple of weeks ago, I purchase a whole coconut. Here in Canada it's not a common thing to do. Marc and I tried forever to crack it after poking the holes on top and draining it. I used a corkscrew. He got out some crazy tools from our survival trunk. I told him to forget it. We would not be using a little axe in the apartment.
I hit the coconut over and over with a big heavy knife in the centre while holding it in one hand. I was over the moon, when it crack in half.
Then came the part where I had to scrape out the meat. It was not easy but I got it out and made some coconut milk in the blender. It was drained and I was left with the pulp. I toasted it and put it aside.
This was perfect to sprinkle on the pudding but it may be another year or two before I go to the trouble of a whole coconut again.
In the end it was a perfect way to top my tropical dish of memories.
Thanks for dropping by and have a great day.
design by: @KidSistersPhotos are taken with a Nikon D7500
This looks amazing and delicious, a blast.
Thank you very much @yolimarag!
The dessert is very tempting, the layering of coconut milk sago pearls is very delicious for sure. I think it's very good especially the mangos topping, it must be very delicious. yeah although I was a little surprised at the price of the mangos 😄
Haha I am sure there is a mango tree near you. Here is the north where nothing good grows.
Thanks for your visit.😊
This is one of my favourite Chinese or Thai sweets. I could have two big bowls by myself. I should learn to make this simple sweet! My gardener did this very well!
Yes please make this. It is really simple. Or you could stick to the gardeners haha.
Que rico se ve ese pudin genial par compartir en familia y amigos
Muchas Gracias @leidys01!
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Hi @carolynstahl
What a beautiful and emotional post! It really has been great to travel back to your childhood memories, thank you for sharing them with us.
This pudding is beautiful and also delicious, you have wonderfully combined flavors, textures, colors, aromas. It is a masterpiece. Brilliant!
Regarding the coconut, the next time you buy one, it is very easy to open it. The first thing is to extract the water, for which you will pierce the "little eye" that is soft at the end of the coconut. They always have 3 "little eyes", but only one is easy to pierce, it is soft. You extract the water, and then place the coconut on the stove grate, with the heat very low, so that it roasts on the outside of its shell. You must constantly rotate it so that this process is uniform. Be careful not to overcook it or burn it. You'll know it's ready when the hard outer shell cracks. At that moment you remove it from the heat and wait for it to cool. Then you can open it with gentle taps, and extracting the pulp will be very easy, because it comes off easily with this technique. I hope this information is useful to you.
Thank you very much for your great recipes. Have a great week.
Thank you so much for your generous comment and support. Also thank you for the coconut tip. I will soon get another coconut try this. The coconuts we get are not the best, if we can even find them.😌
I wish you the very best.
My God, what a beauty and what a delight, what a great pleasure to go through here, from the pleasant reading to the photographs that invite you to taste a luxury dessert.
Y... wow!!! I was crazy with the prices of mangos, here in Venezuela in season you can buy up to 6 of those for 1$.
As for cracking a coconut, I wrap it in a cloth and hit it hard and dry against the floor or a wall that I don't mind damaging. 🤭
If I could get 6 mangoes for a dollar, I would get 60 of them haha. I would eat mangoes until I did not like them anymore.😄
Thank you so much for your lovely comment!
You know I have a sweet tooth, this is right up my alley, it must have been a delicious dessert, especially with the addition of fruit and toasted coconut!
Shoo, those mangoes are pricey indeed.
I make a sago pudding which is similar to this recipe, but sago of course are much smaller pearls, it's one of my favourites!
Next time I would get little sago so it doesn't take so long. It's such a simple fun dessert.
You probably have a mango tree and a coconut tree near you haha.
Best wishes my friend.
Looks so great! You make me want to eat something.
You probably make something like this all the time.
Have a wonderful day.
Beautiful how simple things as coconut tapioca pudding can take you back to these blissfull childhood memories. I bet your variation taste amazing. It does look amazing that's for sure. Here in Cambodia tapioca pudding is a common dessert too. Though I never made it myself. Thanks for the inspiration. Enjoy the summer months. Here rainy season has arrived.
I wish I could try the Cambodian one.
I hope the rainy season is not too hard on you guys. Here the rainy season takes place mostly on my days off haha.
Haha... Typical. Well enjoy the sun while it lasts!
How great that the dish you tried from your friend brought back such fond memories.
Tapioca and mango pudding sounds very delicious, I appreciate that you share the ingredients and how to prepare it.
The pudding looks really delicious.How are you dear friend @carolynstahl good morning
Yes it's memories that make food taste a certain way sometimes.
Thank you for your kind words and support my friend. Enjoy your day and best wishes.
I appreciate you sharing this beautiful memory you have of your father making this type of dessert.
I loved your recipe, the pudding looks exquisite
Thank you very much for showing us how to prepare the puddingHello lady @carolynstahl good morning
It is a pleasure to receive such kind words and support from you.
Thank you so much Abigail .
I wish you have a fantastic day.Hello @miprimerconcurso.
Some memories just pop up when you see something linked with them. I think it must be a very delicious summer dessert. I hope you enjoyed it cheerfully. I was smiling about you and your coconut struggle. :)
Oh my god looks amazing and so fresh 😍🤩
in Indonesia, we call that recipe 'Es Buah' or 'Fruit ice', but it's served very luxuriously!
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Wow amazing. Thanks @hivebuzz !
I appreciate your visit and kind comment my friend. Best wishes.