I am proud to have a lot of childhood stories to tell! That's because my late mother was a good cook. So that allowed me to tell many things.
For me, cooking is something cool. What do you think? Isn't it cool if someone can cook a different menu every day, even with the same ingredients?
I am grateful to God that I can cook. Although at the beginning of my high school years I couldn't cook. But because of my independence while working and being away from my family, I finally got used to cooking and now I can cook even for my family.
A dessert dish that I have had since I was little is sweet pearls. The term pearl is certainly not about real pearls, but because this dessert is shaped like pearl grains that are also beautifully colored.
Although it looks simple, this sweet pearl dessert is not as easy as imagined. This is because the texture of pearls is uniquely chewy. If you cook it wrong, you won't get the maximum texture and shape. If cooked too long, the pearls can change texture and shape into porridge too. On the other hand, if it is not cooked, it will not be chewy and will be hard.
This sweet pearl dessert is actually made from tapioca flour. So there are also many people who call this dessert tapioca pearls, or sago pearls. Popular in Asian countries, have you ever seen a dessert like this before?
Of course, the ingredients needed are very easy to get. Especially in my area where the main ingredient is coconut milk. Usually my late mother only needed to pick up coconuts in the yard, then make her own coconut milk. But at this time, especially when I have moved to another area, I can't get fresh coconuts, so I have to buy the coconut milk first at the market.
THE INGREDIENTS
- 100 grams of tapioca pearls
- 200 ml of thin coconut milk
- 1500 ml of water to boil tapioca pearls
- 5 tablespoons of sugar
- 1/2 teaspoons of salt to balance the taste
- pandan leaf, of vanilla
COOKING INSTRUCTIONS
The most important thing to prepare tapioca pearls is to boil the water. As I wrote above, the ingredient needed is 1500 ml of water to boil the tapioca pearls.
If the water is not boiling, the pearls will fail to expand and can break when cooked in water that is not boiling. So, after the water boils, I put the pearls in.
Before I close the cooking pot, I stir the tapioca pearls. Then close the cooking pot. And cook them on medium to high heat for 8 minutes.
Then here I have a trick to save gas. After 8 minutes of cooking, turn off the heat but do not open the lid of the cooking pot. Then wait for 30 minutes before I cook the tapioca pearls again.
While waiting for the pearls to go through the cooking process, to save time I will prepare the coconut milk sauce. I lower the pearl cooking pot first, then I use another cooking pot to cook the coconut milk sauce.
Of course cooking this coconut milk sauce is very easy. I only need to mix all the ingredients, namely liquid coconut milk, sugar, salt, cornstarch and pandan leaves.
Stir well until they are perfectly mixed and cook until slightly thick. After it thickens, turn off the heat and set aside while waiting for the tapioca pearls to cook.
After 30 minutes, I open the lid of the pot again to make sure there is still water in the pot. After that I close the pot again and cook them again for 7 minutes.
After 7 minutes here we can see together that the pearls are cooked. The sign that they are cooked is that they are no longer white and they turn red with the water also being red.
Turn off the heat and then they can be served while warm with the coconut milk sauce that has been made.
THE RESULTS
This is the result of a sweet and beautiful tapioca pearls dessert, serve it with the coconut milk sauce that has been made.
The coconut milk sauce is separate from the tapioca pearls so that they can look good when served in each serving container. This entire dessert can be served for up to 4 people.
I hope you enjoy my story and sweet dish this time. See you again in my kitchen story. Have a great day!
Best Regards,
Anggrek Lestari
Anggrek Lestari is an Indonesian fiction writer who has published two major books. Now She is a full-time content creator. She has a goal to share life, poem, and food content that makes others happy and can get inspiration.
Contact Person: authoranggreklestari@gmail.com
Discord: anggreklestari#3009