Prep Time: 30 min
Cooking Time: 20 min
Number of servings: 9-10. 1 serving = 1 cup of assembled dessert shown below

1. Sago x 300g

2. Mango x 2

3. Rock sugar x 1 packet

4. Coconut milk x 1 packet

5. Nestle cream x 1 tin OR Coconut cream x 1 packet

6. Pandan leaf x 4

7. Mint leaves (optional, for decoration only)

8. Water

1. Soak the sago for half an hour (see pic above).

2. Dice the mangoes into small pieces, then set aside.

• Mangoes are slippery little bastards once their skin is off. Work carefully, or with a thick glove, so that you don't cut yourself.

• If you're not sure how to dice a mango, see this video (not mine!)

3. Put 200-300ml of water into a saucepan and boil the rock sugar and pandan leaves until the pandan leaves wilt and the sugar water is fragrant.

• You can add as many pandan leaves and as much sugar as you want.

• You can use this sugar water for other desserts if there's leftover. Keep it in the fridge.

• Keep in mind that if you add too much sugar, though, the sugar water will crystallise over time, which defeats the purpose of making a sugar solution in the first place.

4. Boil the soaked sago, stirring at short intervals, until sago is more or less translucent. Strain it under cold water in a sieve until it's cooled down.

• It will look like total mush inside your pot when it's fully cooked and the whites in the middle are gone. Do not panic. This is normal. The sago has not melted.

• You will need to scrape the sides of the sieve with a ladle to let water flow through the sago, cause it forms quite a good barrier against the water.

• The finer the mesh of the sieve, the better. The sago likes to stick to the sides of the sieve and will also get pushed out as you scrape the sides. You will lose what looked to me like an alarming amount of sago when it pushes out and sticks to the side of the sieve.

• Boil the sago in a nonstick pan. It clings to stainless steel like crazy! :'(

• It also clings to the sieve like crazy. Use a brush with detergent to brush the sieve repeatedly to clean it. The sago will completely be removed after, uh, the 4th to 5th time of brushing? :p Nobody said the cleanup was gonna be easy. Pwahaha.

5. Transfer the cooled sago into a bowl, and mix it with the Nestle cream/coconut cream, coconut milk, and the pandan sugar solution.

• I can't prescribe how much pandan sugar to put in because your sugar concentration might differ from mine.

• Taste the milky sago as you add the pandan sugar and stop when it's sweet enough for you.

6. Assemble the dessert.

• Scoop the desired amount of sago into a glass cup, spoon some mango cubes on top, and garnish with two mint leaves.

• Enjoy!

Can I put other fruits on top of this?

Yes you can. Knock yourself out. You can even go all fancy and make a coulis to drizzle on it. The version I had on vacation that made me want to recreate this had a mango coulis and fresh mango. I prefer just fresh fruit though.

I also suggest using citrus fruit or something that's just a tad sour (like mango, passion fruit, berries or tangerines) to give the flavour profile more depth.

Must I use coconut milk?

Nope, you don't have to. Use any kind of milk that tastes good to you.

Do I need to use any kind of cream at all? Cream is so high calorie O.o

Nope, you can actually just put coconut milk if you want. Or any kind of milk, really, so long as the taste goes well with the fruit you're putting on top.

How do I tell if the mango I'm buying is sweet?

You're on your own, buddy. I have no idea either. It's the luck of the draw. :D

One indicator, for me, is how soft it is, and whether it's fragrant. However, I will say that even this is no guarantee, I've had soft, fragrant little mangoes turn out to be sour b*tches.

What can I substitute for sago?

THERE IS NO SUBSTITUTE FOR THE CHEWY GOODNESS OF SAGO!

But ok, if you really must, maybe chia seeds would work, though chia seeds are crunchy and sago is not.

Can I substitute the sugar for something else?

Sure, so long as it's sweet. If the thing you substitute with is coloured, though (like gula melaka, for example), you may not have a nice, white sago base. If that doesn't matter to you, be my guest.