Sweet Potato Sago Dessert

On a recent visit to the wholesale centre with my mother, we chanced upon our usual grocer selling large sago pearls. I have always been intrigued by these large spheres but have never tried cooking them before. Curiosity getting the better of me, I bought 1kg of these sago pearls.

It was only when I did a cursory search online that I found that I was in for some trouble as the online comments suggested that cooking these pearls will be a long and painful affair. Armed with this information, I decided to make sweet potato dessert with these pearls to welcome a friend's return from San Francisco. 

Thinking that knowledge is the key to handle these notorious pearls, I set out to boil a vat of water first. I was told that soaking them prior will turn them into mush and in the name of kitchen science, I soaked a handful of sago pearls in water. True enough it disintegrated into a thick white mush and I had to throw it into the trash. Once the water had started to boil, I added the sago pearls, letting them simmer over low heat.

And it simmered, and simmered... the clock was ticking and we needed to get ready to go for the get together and the sago pearls stared at me with its hard whiteness, not the gelatinous transparent spheres I was looking for. It slowly started to attain its transparency and only after two hours was I able to get a pot of cooked sago pearls. However, by then, some of the smaller cooked pearls had started to disintegrate, thickening the water it was cooking in. Hence, I realised that the next time, I needed to remove the pearls that are cooked and not leave them in with the uncooked bits.

The verdict, these pearls are far more textural than their smaller cousin. It provides a chewy addition to the soft sweet potatoes and even my mum who makes excellent desserts liked it very much that she asked me for the recipe (which is actually inspired by her). I do want to use these pearls more often but it also means I need to learn how to cook them faster or without using so much heat from the stove. Perhaps a thermal cooker or pressure cooker might work.

Sweet Potato Sago Dessert

260g large sago pearls

4 pandan leaves

1 kg sweet potatoes

200g red sugar

400g coconut milk

1 litre water

Method:

1) In a large pot, bring lots of water to boil. Add the sago pearls and boil until the pearls become translucent. (May take up to 2 hours) (You can consider using a slow cooker or thermal pot)

2) Once cooked, drain away the water and wash the cooked sago in cold water to remove starch. Set aside.

3) Peel and cube the sweet potatoes. 

4) In another pot, add 1 litre of water, pandan leaves and sweet potatoes and cook the potatoes until tender.

5) Add sugar, coconut milk and sago and bring to a boil.

6) Remove from heat, serve hot or cold with some ice cubes.