Coconut Mango Pitaya Sago Soup. A sweet creamy milky dessert with chewy tapioca pearls, sweet mango and dragon fruit. Great as a chilled dessert. Quick and easy to make with minimal ingredients.
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What is Coconut Mango Pitaya Sago Soup?
Coconut Mango Pitaya Sago soup is a refreshing, sweet, chilled dessert soup inspired by South-East Asian influences. It's made of sago or cooked tapioca pearls, sweet coconut milk, pitaya or dragon fruit, and mangos. The combination of the fresh fruit in that cold sweet milky coconut soup and the bouncy sago is so good! The taste of the chewy little tapioca pearls swimming in that sweet coconut milk is heavenly.
The soft pearls of tapioca are my favourite part of this dessert because they absorb the flavours of the mango, coconut milk and pitaya. Especially if you let it sit overnight in the fridge. This easy Asian dessert is also so beautiful thanks to the contrasting colours. I often make this simple dessert whenever I want to impress guests because it’s so easy to make a few hours in advance.
Ingredients
You will need the below ingredients for my coconut mango pitaya sago soup recipe. Please scroll down to below recipe card for exact measurements.
- Small tapioca pearls: avoid using large tapioca
- Ripe mangoes: make sure the mangoes are fully ripened or they will taste too tart
- Whole fat coconut milk: the canned kind
- Cold water
- Dragon fruit or pitaya: any kind of dragon fruit will work
- Chinese rock sugar: or substitute with cane sugar
How to make Coconut Mango Pitaya Sago Soup
- In a medium size pot filled with enough water on high heat, cover and bring it to a boil. Gently stir the water as it boils and gradually pour in your tapioca while stirring. Then lower heat to medium heat. Boil tapioca for 15 mins uncovered. Then turn off the heat, cover and let the cooked tapioca sit in the hot water for another 12-15 minutes until fully translucent. If you see still a white dot in the center of the tapioca, it'll need to be soaked for longer.
- Strain tapioca in a fine sieve and rinse under cold water. Leave the pearls in the sieve submerged under cold water and set aside.
- In small pot, add coconut milk with water and Chinese rock sugar. Boil for 5 minutes until sugar has dissolved completely stirring every now and then. Do not cover this. You’ll know when you no longer see the sugar or hear it rattling in the pot. Turn off heat and allow this to cool down in the fridge or freezer.
- Divide diced fruit and strained tapioca between serving bowls. Pour cooled coconut milk over top and serve cold. Enjoy!
Storage
Leftover dessert will last up to 3 days can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge. Keep in mind, the tapioca pearls will expand over time and will become less chewy.
Expert Tips
- Use ripened mango. Steer clear of the hard unripe ones or it won't be sweet and more tart. You need the sweetness of the ripe mangoes to make this right!
- Stir the tapioca after pouring it into the hot boiling water to prevent them from sticking to each other and stir occasionally.
- Rinse the pearls under cold running water to make them very bouncy and soak them in the cold water until you’re ready to serve them. Or they will stick together and it’ll be difficult to divide them into the bowls.
- When cutting your pitaya, slice the fruit vertically in half. Then slice that half vertically in half again. You’ll see where the fruit meat meets the skin. Peel that skin back until the fruit comes out easily. Next dice the pitaya.
Other recipes you may like!
- Coconut Mango Sago Dessert Soup
- Mango Sago
- Rose Pandan Coconut Sago
- Filipino Taho
- Mango Coconut Chia Pudding
- Chinese Mango Pudding
📖 Recipe
Quick & Easy Coconut Mango Pitaya Sago Dessert
Ingredients
- 400 ml coconut milk whole fat
- 400 ml water cold
- 2 large mangos peeled and diced. Important: make sure it’s ripened.
- 1 dragon fruit diced
- ¼ cup tapioca pearl small kind (avoid using the large kind)
- 50 g Chinese Rock Sugar or cane sugar
Instructions
- In a medium size pot filled with enough water on high heat, cover and bring it to a boil. Gently stir the water as it boils and gradually pour in your tapioca while stirring. Then lower heat to medium heat. Boil tapioca for 15 mins uncovered. Then turn off the heat, cover and let the cooked tapioca sit in the hot water for another 12-15 minutes until fully translucent. If you see still a white dot in the center of the tapioca, it'll need to be soaked for longer.
- Strain tapioca in a fine sieve and rinse under cold water. Leave the pearls in the sieve submerged under cold water and set aside.
- In small pot, add coconut milk with water and Chinese rock sugar. Boil for 5 minutes until sugar has dissolved completely stirring every now and then. Do not cover this. You’ll know when you no longer see the sugar or hear it rattling in the pot. Turn off heat and allow this to cool down in the fridge or freezer.
- Divide diced fruit and strained tapioca between serving bowls. Pour cooled coconut milk over top and serve cold. Enjoy!
Heidi | The Frugal Girls
I agree with you. The mixture of flavors and textures is simply unbeatable. It really is so fun!