Sago (tapioca or pearl balls)

The recent craze is to serve the humble sago (tapioca or pearl balls) with milk and powdered artificial flavoring. I am not exactly into artificial flavoring especially the ones with artificial sweeteners. They always leave a nasty aftertaste. What I did earlier today was to make some sago drinks the traditional way. Well, almost the traditional way. This is the kind of drinks sold by ambulant vendors most everywhere in the .

Sago (tapioca or pearl balls)cold sago drink

My 12-year-old daughter cooked the sago yesterday. The left photo shows the cooked and uncooked sago. Uncooked sago can be bought in most supermarkets. They come in different sizes and colors. My daughter actually concocted her own sago drinks yesterday afternoon using condensed milk and drops of food color. She gave me a glass of sago in a milky blue liquid. Well, she has her own food and photo blog and her concoctions are for her to publish. I’ll just put up the links when she says she’s ready to go public.

Anyway, to make the traditional sago drinks, you just need cooked sago, cold water, crushed ice and molasses. The old-fashioned way is to use melted arnibal or blocks of raw sugar. Using arnibal does impart a more natural flavor but I don’t like the sediments that come with it so I used bottled molasses. Just place a few tablespoonfuls of cooked sago in a class add some cold water, sweeten with molasses and top with some crushed ice. Great way to feel refreshed in the tropical summer heat.

April 23, 2005  Print This Post   
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Comments

12 Responses to “Sago (tapioca or pearl balls)”
  1. LIlia tongol says:
    December 28, 2005 at 3:01 am

    Where can I buy the molasses?

    Reply
  2. Connie says:
    December 29, 2005 at 2:07 am

    Supermarket, Lilia. Baking section. :)

    Reply
  3. Cyndi Garcia says:
    December 31, 2005 at 2:43 pm

    Hello!
    I am the art/ editorial director for Mango Street in Cebu. We are a new magazine going into
    our 2nd month January 2006. I want to publish your daughters recipes for her
    special Sago for our Dining and Bites section! We will completely credit her and she
    can send us contributing photos and a story if she wants.

    Let me know ASAP, as we need are finalizing the issue for January. If anything, she
    be in February’s issue.
    Thank you,
    Cyndi Garcia-Mango Street

    Reply
  4. Connie says:
    December 31, 2005 at 3:07 pm

    Cyndi, you mean the “blue” sago drink? Am not so sure if she kept the photos. I’ll have to ask her though and e-mail you. :)

    Reply
  5. LaLa says:
    May 1, 2006 at 10:19 pm

    hi.. can you please include instructions on how to cook the sago. thanks!

    Reply
  6. mariaE. says:
    September 23, 2007 at 12:03 am

    HI thanks for the Sago Idea, I want to know how to cook too!!
    I tried a lot of times but doesnt look that good like your daughter.

    Reply
  7. jill potenciano says:
    January 21, 2008 at 11:32 pm

    i would like to know what sago is made of and how to make it also…and if i can ask any recipe on how to make halo-halo…thank you so much…

    Reply
  8. Ryan says:
    May 21, 2008 at 5:44 am

    Hi., could you please give me some instructions on how to make the filipino sago the traditional way., kind of like how they sell it on the street vendors. Thanks!

    Reply
  9. artchell says:
    March 22, 2009 at 11:48 am

    can u help me..how to cook sago,and where can we buy…

    Reply
  10. roland says:
    April 4, 2009 at 12:47 am

    I need to make gallons of this – lets say for 30 people — any advice on how to start? at least with the molasses

    Reply

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Some related discussions...
  1. Gulaman, sago and Quickly pearl shakes (bubble milk tea) | Food trips & events | Home-cooking rocks! says:
    August 24, 2009 at 7:35 pm

    [...] the Philippines. It’s been around for ages. When I was a schoolgirl, tapioca balls — or sago, as they were simply called back then — were sold by the glass with ice water flavored with [...]

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