BANANA, COCONUT SAGO PUDDING RECIPE- A NUSANTARA-MALAYSIAN SAGO PUDDING RECIPE

Image of Sago-wrapped-in-banana-leaves

NAME OF COOKING-VARIETIES-NUSANTARA DESSERT RECIPE:

BANANA, COCONUT, GOLDEN SAGO PUDDING 

Image of cooked  Banana, Coconut, Sago Pudding

Ingredients: from cooking-varieties exclusive recipe
2 cups sago pearls
2 medium size ripe bananas- minced (do not mash
1 cup grated coconut 
3  tablespoon sugar
Banana leaves (about 20 pieces, cut into 11 cm width)
Permitted food coloring- orange  

Image-of-Sago-Pearls

Here in Malaysia, you can buy banana leaves from the wet market. Banana leaves need to be softened or slightly wilted, so that it won’t tear off, when folded.  To do this, you can heat the leaf over your stove fire for a few seconds. Or u can put it under the hot sun for 30 minutes.

You may substitute this with some other large non-poisonous leaves. The leaf texture should not be too soft. Cooking-varieties use leaves, to ensure that the sago cooks with excellent results and not soften and get ruined if it’s boiled directly in water. This is the intricate part of cooking sago, although the recipe is very simple to follow.

When that is done, cut the banana leaves into pieces, about 11 cm wide and set aside. Leave the length as it is.

 Wash sago pearls and drain away water. Do not use strainer. The sago is wet enough to enable it to soften, and not soggy.

Using a mixing bowl, add in 5 tablespoon water, food coloring and 3 tablespoon sugar and stir until sugar dissolves. Add in sago pearls, banana and grated coconut. Mix well and ensure that the sugar and all ingredients are properly mixed.  Set aside for 15-20 minutes to allow the ingredients blend together and to let the sago soften a bit.

Boil water in a Steamer pot.

While waiting for water to boil, start wrapping up the sago using banana leaves.

Shape banana leaf into a cone, fill it up with sago and press down the sago using a spoon. Fold the top to close the cone. Place and arrange this cone directly onto the Steamer pan. Repeat this, until all sago has been wrapped up. When water is already boiling, put pan on Steamer pot. Cover with lid and let it cook for about 15- 20 minutes- depending on your steamer size/layers of cones stacked, as in the case of a small-size steamer.

You can open up one cone and check- if sago has turned translucent in color, then it is already cooked. Remove from Steamer and leave to cool. If you like it cold, refrigerate your sago first. When serving, do not remove the leaves.
Health benefits:
Sago is mainly carbohydrates (carbs) with very little vitamins, minerals or proteins. Energy in the form of glucose, is obtained faster from carbs, as compared to glucose obtained from protein intake. Some cell tissues (eg. in the brain) are dependant on glucose from carbs sources, hence low carbs intake can result in slowing down of brain function.

Image-of-Golden-Sago-Pudding-with-Banana-and-Coconut