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4.82 from 16 votes

How to cook: Small sago pearls or tapioca pearls are tasteless on their own. However, when added to hot dessert soups or cold desserts, it will add a chewy texture to the desserts and make them tastier. If you want to add sago to hot desserts (e.g. Red Bean Black Glutinous Rice with Coconut Milk Dessert), just cook it until it is semi-translucent (with a white spot in the center). If it is for cold desserts (e.g. Honeydew Sago Dessert), then you will need a fully cooked sago that is fully translucent.

Sago pearls vs tapioca pearls, what is the difference?

Both pearls are both used in Asian desserts and sweets. They look similar on the outside but slightly different in terms of texture. When cooked with water, the pearls absorb it, become soft and sticky, and swell up.

Sago and tapioca pearls have very little flavor on their own so they don’t overpower other flavors in the dish.

They are both made of starch, which can be extracted from the pith of the sago and cassava plants. Sago is made from the sago palm tree and is translucent. It has a mild flavor and a soft, chewy texture. Tapioca pearls are made from cassava root and have a clear, transparent appearance. They have a chewy texture like sago, but they are crunchier.

sago pearls vs tapioca pearls

Related: How to cook big sago pearl

CHINESE VERSION: 如何煮出透明带Q的沙谷米(西米)

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How to Cook Small Sago Pearls or Tapioca Pearls | MyKitchen101en

Yields: 240 g cooked small sago

Ingredients:

  • 60 g small sago
  • 1.5 Liter + 150 ml + 1 Liter water
 

How to Cook Small Tapioca Pearls or Sago Pearls:

1 Bring 1.5 liter of water to the boil, add in 150 ml of water, add in sago.

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2 Bring to the boil again, turn to medium heat, cook without cover for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.

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3 Off the heat, cover, let sago soaks for 10 minutes.

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4 After soaking for 10 minutes, the sago is partially cooked (semi-translucent with white spot in the center).

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5 Drain and rinse sago with running water until it is cooled. (Cook until this stage if sago is added to hot desserts.)

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6 Bring another 1 liter of water to the boil, add in sago.

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7 Bring to the boil again, off the heat, cover and soak for 5-7 minutes.

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8 After 7 minutes, sago is fully translucent.

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9 Drain and rinse the fully cooked sago with running water until completely cooled before adding to cold desserts.

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How to cook small tapioca pearls or sago pearls

Small sago or tapioca pearls are tasteless on their own. However, when added to hot dessert soups or cold desserts, it will add a chewy texture to the desserts and make them tastier.

Rate

4.82 from 16 votes
Cook Time 40 minutes
Total Time 40 minutes
Course Dessert
Cuisine Southeast Asia
Servings 2
Calories 63 kcal

Ingredients
 
 

  • 60 g small sago
  • 2.625 Liter water 1 Liter + 150 ml + 1 Liter

Instructions
 

  • Bring 1.5 liter of water to the boil, add in 150 ml of water, add in sago.
  • Bring to the boil again, turn to medium heat, cook without cover for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.
  • Off the heat, cover, let sago soaks for 10 minutes.
  • After soaking for 10 minutes, the sago is partially cooked (semi-translucent with white spot in the center).
  • Drain and rinse sago with running water until it is cooled. (Cook until this stage if sago is added to hot desserts.)
  • Bring another 1 liter of water to the boil, add in sago.
  • Bring to the boil again, off the heat, cover and soak for 5-7 minutes.
  • After 7 minutes, sago is fully translucent.
  • Drain and rinse the fully cooked sago with running water until completely cooled before adding to cold desserts.

Video

Nutrition (per serving)

Calories: 63kcalCarbohydrates: 15gSodium: 26mgFiber: 1gVitamin C: 1mg
Keyword how to cook small sago pearls, How to cook tapioca pearls, sago pearls vs tapioca pearls, small sago pearls, tapioca pearls
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