Creamy Mango Tapioca Recipe

Origin of the dish

Mango Tapioca is a type of contemporary dessert originated in Hong Kong. It is a variation of the dessert Mango Pomelo Sago which was first invented in 1984 by famous restaurant Lei Garden, when it decided to open its first branch in Singapore and has maintained its popularity until the present. Wong Wing-chee, the former head chef of the restaurant, was the one who invented this dessert to feel cooler or be refreshed after having to taste it. This dessert is famous in Chinese countries like Singapore, Hong Kong, Taiwan and other Chinese restaurants. Its original recipe “Mango Pomelo Sago” is made of diced mangoes, pomelo, coconut milk and evaporated milk. However, it evolves through time and can easily be made with diced mangoes, all-purpose cream, condensed milk and small sago or tapioca pears and got its new variation name “Mango Tapioca”.

When is Mango Tapioca Typically Served?

The Mango Tapioca is commonly served as dessert after every meal during Christmas, birthdays, and other special occasions. It can also be a refreshing summer drink since this is served cold. This is perfect to pair with a midday snack during summer days. Indulge your thirst to this satisfying cold dessert which you can’t get enough of once you taste it.

Kitchen Utensils you need!

Upon making mango tapioca, all you need are the following:

• knife to cut the mangoes in dice
• can opener to open your condensed milk and evaporated milk
• pair of scissors to open the all-purpose cream
• cooking pot, to cook the tapioca pearls
• mixing bowl, where all ingredients will be mixed together -strainer to separate cooked tapioca from water
• spatula to mix all ingredients thoroughly
• serving cups, bottles, or even a glass (preferably with lid)

Creamy Mango Tapioca’s Primary Ingredients – Mangoes and Tapioca Pearls

Creamy Mango Tapioca is primarily made of from the name itself, mangoes and tapioca pearls. Let’s talk about the how’s and what’s about the two.

Let’s start with the mangoes. Creamy Mango Tapioca is a healthy snack because one of its main ingredients are mangoes, which are in fact full of health benefits: One serving of mango provides 50% of your daily vitamin C. Each serving of mango provides 8% of your daily vitamin A, 7% of your daily fiber, 15% of your daily folate and 15% of your daily copper.

When making mango tapioca, make sure to pick the sweetest mangoes available to best complement with the dish. Choose the ones that are dark yellow in color because those are the sweetest, and for my personal way of identifying the sweetest mangoes is I smell them. You can recognize the sweetness of the mango by their smell that lingers to your nose. Remember, do not judge the mango by its cover – red does not mean ripe.

Second main ingredients for Creamy Mango Tapioca are tapioca pearls. But unlike a bubble tea, we will not be using the boba pearls which are the size of a marble and are dark in color. Instead, we will be using tapioca pearls, which are size of a pea and are translucent in color. They are made with tapioca starch which is extracted from cassava root. These are flavorless, they are just added to some drinks and dessert because of its pleasurable chewy texture.

How to Cook Tapioca Pearls

The one problem people tend to have in making creamy mango tapioca is how to cook tapioca pearls. No worries, cooking tapioca pearls is simple and easy. Just prepare a cooking pot with water and bring to boil. Make sure you put enough water to the pot.

Correct ratio when cooking tapioca pearls is, 1 cup of tapioca pearl, you should use 6 cups of water. Once waiter is boiling, add the tapioca pearls and stir, then turn the heat to medium low. Cook covered for 20 minutes and stir occasionally to prevent tapiocas from sticking. Turn off the heat and leave the cooking pot covered and sit for 15 minutes. Then drain the tapioca pearls and rinse under cold water until they are completely translucent. And there you have your perfectly cooked tapioca pearls!

Interesting Facts

1. Mango Tapioca or Mango Sago originated in Hong Kong.
2. Mangoes are related to cashews and pistachios.
3. Tapioca and sago are made from different plants but are similar and behave the same.

Tips and Tricks

• Cooking tapioca pearls will be needing a lot of water because they absorb quickly and are starchy. Not using enough water may cause them to become sticky and uncooked. Which we are preventing to happen.

• Note that 1 cup of dried tapioca pearls yields about 2 ½ cups of cooked tapioca pearls.

• Use 6 cups of water for every cup of uncooked tapioca pearl when cooking it.

Surely this will be your new go-to cold dessert that perfectly blends in with the summer hotness. And you can even make it by scoop-serve or by straw, it just depends on how you slice the mangoes and its container - whether small cups for scoop or big bottles for straw. This dessert has been a favorite by anyone who has tasted it because of how the ingredients complement with each other. You can even add mango gulaman to the ingredients to make it more flavorful. Indulge and satisfy your cravings!