Now I would be a flat-out liar if I said I grew up loving mango pudding. Truthfully, I couldn’t even eat a mango when I was a child, until the age of 15. It was a textural thing. The first time I ate a mango, that I can remember, I was 4 years old, and it was too fibrous, almost scratchy, and the intense sweet and sour flavor was too much for a near-infant Fred to handle. The same reason why I couldn’t eat pineapple until I was 10. When I finally had my first mango as a not-child, I actually quite enjoyed it. Maybe it was that the mango I ate as a 4-year-old was not ripe enough, but this mango, I distinctly remember it being soft, juicy, and pleasantly sweet and sour. This was also during my Buddhist Youth Group’s Iron Chef competition, where we had to cook with mangos as the featured ingredient, and back when the only thing I knew how to make was vegan cupcakes, there was only a toaster oven available, and no baking powder or soda, and I had to make a dessert using a fruit I hadn’t really eaten nor enjoyed that much. Needless to say, it was hilarious, but I somehow pulled out a curried mango pudding with basil and chocolate that actually was well-received? Needless to say now, I would have done a mille feuille with homemade phyllo, since I actually could’ve executed that in that environment, but over a decade of hindsight will help you in that regard. All of that mango-related tangent to say that I did not like mangos until about halfway through my life.

Mango pudding, for those who have never had this Dim Sum staple before, is essentially a mango custard, made with egg yolks, mango, and set with gelatin like a panna cotta. I actually love mango pudding, because the tartness of the fruit keeps it from being too sweet. And if anyone knows anything about Asian Americans can their desserts, a not-too-sweet dessert is like the highest compliment you can receive. I paired the mango pudding with sago, which are similar to boba, but smaller, fully translucent, and un-colored. I cooked my sago in salted coconut milk, which is a typical accompaniment to desserts such as mango sticky rice, just to give a pleasant sweet and salty contrast to the sweet and sour mango pudding. And just for a little freshness, some slices of mango on top as well. Fresh mango helps to balance any inherent sweetness in the dessert, while also giving a hint to what the ambiguously yellow custard under the sago may be, since it could be any yellow fruit – looking at you, pineapple and passionfruit. Just seeing the fresh mango slices is an immediate tip off to what flavors to expect. What I love about this dessert is that the top layer is very similar to mango sticky rice, using sago instead of rice, while the bottom layer is classic mango pudding, so it bridges together two different cuisines and two different mango desserts that I have grown to love and occasionally crave over the past decade of my life. Other side notes about this dessert, I made my mango puree by blending 3.5oz fresh mango with .5oz water, and this recipe is actually 100% gluten-free!

Makes 4 servings:
For the mango pudding:
1 egg yolk
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 tsp gelatin powder + 1 tbsp cold water
1/4 cup coconut milk
a pinch of salt
4oz mango puree

In a bowl, whisk the egg yolk with sugar. In a pot, heat up gelatin, coconut milk, and salt. Once the gelatin and salt are dissolved into the coconut milk, pour half of it into the egg yolk while whisking. Add the egg yolk back into the pot with coconut milk and whisk on low heat for 2-3 minutes. Then whisk in the mango puree, off heat, mixing until combined. Divide the pudding mixture amongst 4 glasses and refrigerate for 1 hour.

For the sago:
1 cup water, plus more for rinsing
1/4 cup sago pearls
1 tbsp granulated sugar
1/4 cup coconut milk
1/4 tsp salt

Bring 1 cup of water to a boil in a pot. Boil the sago pearls for 10 minutes, or until half-translucent, and then strain and rinse them under cold water. Add the sago into a pot with sugar, coconut milk, and salt and cook on low heat until the liquid is reduced by half. Allow the sago to cool before spooning onto the 4 puddings.

To garnish:
Fresh mango

Slice the fresh mango and top the sago with pieces.