Tapioca Pudding

I know this is a very much love or hate dessert, but I love tapioca pudding with all my heart and soul. I grew up with mum making this every now and then- it started as a very dairy ‘heavy’ dish using regular cow’s milk and condensed milk, and as we stopped drinking dairy, we found out that coconut milk makes for an even better dessert. It’s very unusual for me to use condensed milk now, but I sometimes can’t resist- it’s so yummy.

If you’ve never had tapioca pudding before, it does have a peculiar texture. If you’ve ever had boba tea, it basically is those balls you get in the drink, except smaller and unsweetened, but with all the ingredients added into the dessert it makes for something heavenly.

The coconut bits in the dessert are hard/impossible to find in the western supermarkets, but you can find them in any asian stores. I’ve also hyperlinked the ingredients so you can buy them online.

Serves:4-5 people

prep/cooking: 2 hours

Ingredients

1/4 cup (77g)Coconut gel/Nata de coco

1/4 cup (92g) Palm nut in syrup/Kaong

1/4 cup (100g) coconut sport shredded/Macapuno

2 cups (440ml)water

1/2 cup (80g) small tapioca pearls

1/4 cup (85g) coconut milk

2 tbsp condensed milk or sugar, adjust to taste

Method

1. In a sieve on top of a bowl, add the coconut gel, palm nut, and shredded coconut, rinse the mixture until all the syrup has come off. Add all the coconut pieces into a clean bowl and top with water. Let soak in the water for 2+ hours, ideally overnight to remove any unpleasant flavours from the syrup.

2. In a pot, add the water and bring to the boil, add the tapioca pearls, bring to the boil again, and then turn the heat off. Add a lid on the pot, and let the tapioca sit in the water until they plump up- the exterior will become transluscent. 15-20 minutes.

3. When the tapioca is ready - you can test this by trying a pearl, it should be soft with no graininess or crunch. Add the coconut milk and sweetener of your choice (2 tbsp is sweet enough for me, but you may want a bit more.) Drain the coconut mixture and add to the pudding, stir through. Serve either hot, warm or cold. Keep chilled in the fridge- it makes great leftovers!