Tapioca pudding

Tapioca pudding (also sago pudding) is a sweet pudding made with tapioca and, usually, milk. It is made in many cultures, in many styles. Its consistency ranges from thin (runny), to thick, to firm enough to eat with a fork. Like its close relation bubble tea, very thin tapioca pudding resembles an emulsion.

The pudding can be made from scratch using tapioca in a variety of forms: flakes, coarse meal, sticks, and pearls. Many commercial packaged mixes are available also. Uncooked, tapioca pearls resemble pellets of styrofoam; cooked, they resemble fish eggs.

Variations

Other

A common variation involves placing sweetened adzuki bean paste at the bottom. Another is to layer cooked tapioca custard and pieces of fruit. In this case the custard is thick enough that the fruits do not sink or rise to the top.

Hong Kong

The pudding is called "Sai mai lo" (Chinese: 西米露, pinyin: xī mĭ lù) in Hong Kong as a Chinese tongsui dessert. In addition to small pearl tapioca, it has coconut and evaporated milk. Some varieties include taro to make "taro sai mai lo" (芋頭西米露). Other varieties include fruits such as mango or honeydew. It is served usually cold, sometimes warm.

Brazil

In Brazil, the dessert "sagu" is made from pearl tapioca cooked with cinnamon and cloves in red wine or grape juice.

References