Sago Pudding or Gula Melaka

This is one of  Malaysian or South East Asian favourite dessert. It is really a great combination of texture and flavour. I was a bit uncertain when i first made it for my boys as they are Dutch and never tried a pudding that is like this but they loved it and wanted more!

Sago Pudding

120g dried sago pearls
1 litre of water
350ml can coconut cream
pinch of salt
150g chopped Dark Palm Sugar or Gula Melaka
2 Pandan leaves ,bruised and knotted (optional)
20ml Hot boiling water

• Soak the dried pearl sago for at least an hour. Drain it and bring the litre water to boil and pour in the sago.
• Boil sago over low heat and stir constantly until sago pearls turn transparent.
• Pour the sago to a huge small hole sieve and run cold water through. This is to remove any unwanted starch.
• Scoop the portion of your liking the mould you like. You can use any mould you wish from muffin tray or a big jelly mould. Any shapes and sizes.
• Place the mould /moulds in the fridge.
• Combine the chopped dark palm sugar (gula melaka) with the hot water and pandan leaves. Bring it to boil for 3-5 minutes on low heat until the sugar melts and to a nice rich syrup consistency.
• Remove from heat, discard the pandan leaves and set in a jug to cool.
• All the coconut cream with a pinch of salt and warm it up in a pan. When done pour in to a jug and keep it refrigerated.
• When its time to serve, remove the sago from the mould and pour in the gula melaka syrup and topped with the coconut cream. Or guests can do it themselves so they can pour the syrup and coconut cream to their own liking!