Thai Tapioca Pudding with Fruit - Sakoo Paik

Thai Dessert

Any fresh or canned tropical fruit maybe added to the pudding. Cut the fruit into bite-sized pieces before stirring into the tapioca.

Ingredients

  • 1/2 cup small tapioca pearls
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • Pinch of salt
  • 1/2 cup coconut cream scooped from the top of chilled Fresh Coconut Milk or unshaken high quality commercial coconut milk
  • 1 cup cut-up assorted fresh or canned fruits such as young coconut, jackfruit, longan, lychee, mango, mangosteen, palm seed, papaya, and rambutan
  • Fresh mint sprigs for garnish (optional)
  • Pesticide-free nontoxic small orchids for garnish (optional)

Directions

Place the tapioca in a fine-mesh strainer and quickly rinse under cold running water. Drain well, then transfer to a saucepan. Add 1 1/2 cups water, the sugar, and salt and stir well. Place over medium-high heat and bring to a boil, stirring constantly. Reduce the heat so that the tapioca barely simmers and cook, stirring occasionally, until the tapioca turns translucent and is tender when tasted, about 15 minutes. Remove from the heat.

Stir the coconut cream into the warm pudding and set aside to cool to room temperature, or cover tightly and refrigerate until chilled.

To serve, stir the fruits into the pudding, then spoon into 4 individual dishes and garnish with mint and/or flowers (if using).
Serves 4


Southeast Asia produces most of the world's supply of tapioca, also known as sago, the latter of which is the source for the Thai name for this lightly sweetened dessert. This pudding, with its clean, pure flavor and almost-pourable, milky texture, is a refreshing changefrom the egg-rich tapioca pudding familiar to Westerners. Imported tapioca comes in a mixture of tinted hues, as well as basic white, and a range of sizes, from tiny beads to large pearls. Actual cooking time varies with the size of the tapioca pearls.

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Submitted 12/10/05.
Source: James McNair's Favorites
Submitted By: Tracy Petty

Thai Tapioca Pudding with Fruit - Sakoo Paik