Purple Sweet Potato Tapioca Pudding (Sago)

Step 1

Add the water to a pot or large saucepan and bring it to boil over high heat. DO NOT add the tapioca pearls when the water is still cold (see note 3). Reduce the heat slightly to medium-high and add the tapioca pearls. Give the pearls a quick stir. Cook the pearls for 15 minutes and turn off the heat. The pearls will be translucent around the exterior with solid white specks in the center. Cover the pot with a lid and let the pearls sit for another 10 to 15 minutes, until the pearls look completely translucent. It’s okay if a few pearls here and there still have tiny white specks in the center.

Step 2

Drain the pearls and rinse them under cold water. Transfer them to a large bowl with ice water or cold tap water. Submerging the pearls completely in cold water helps them to cool faster and makes them less sticky. Let that sit while you prepare the other components of the tapioca pudding.

Step 3

Add a steaming rack into the center of a large wok. Fill the wok with water, until the water level nearly reaches the top of the steaming rack. Cover the wok and bring the water to boil. If you have an alternate steaming setup, feel free to use that!

Step 4

Place the sweet potatoes on a plate, set the plate on top of the steaming rack, and cover the wok. Steam the sweet potatoes for 25 to 30 minutes, until you can easily pierce the flesh with a fork. You can speed up the steaming process by slicing the sweet potatoes before steaming.

Step 5

Let the sweet potatoes cool slightly before peeling them. You’ll need about 3/4 cup (200g) of mashed sweet potatoes, which is about 2 medium-sized sweet potatoes. Save the rest of the cooked sweet potatoes and slice them into bite-sized cubes.

Step 6

Heat the milk and coconut milk in a saucepan. Do not cover the saucepan with a lid as the milk boils over very easily. Right when the milk comes to a boil, turn off the heat. Add 3 tablespoons of honey, stir, and let the milk cool for 5 to 10 minutes.

Step 7

Pour the milk into the bowl of a high-speed blender. Add the mashed sweet potatoes and blend everything until smooth. The puree will taste very sweet at this stage, so wait until you add the tapioca pearls before assessing the overall sweetness of the pudding.

Step 8

Drain the cooled tapioca pearls and transfer to a large bowl. Drizzle 2 tablespoons of honey over the pearls. Toss to coat the pearls with the honey. If you accidentally added all 5 tablespoons of the honey into the warmed milk, don’t worry. Just skip the honey at this stage.

Step 9

Add the sweet potato puree to the bowl and stir to incorporate. Finally, add the cubed sweet potato and sliced strawberries and stir again.

Step 10

You can eat the purple sweet potato tapioca pudding right away. However, I find pudding more refreshing after it’s been chilled for at least 1 to 2 hours. Feel free to serve it at your preferred temperature. Serve the tapioca pudding in bowls, wide mouth mason jars, or glasses!