Sago is the starch extracted from piths of tropical palm stems and is commercially produced and commonly sold in the form of pearls. They are usually cooked in water or choice of liquid and widely used in beverages and desserts. These spheres are really easy to prepare, requiring only for the most part boiling in water until translucent. But if you want them chewy or what I describe as “a bite with a fight”, I follow a certain technique on how to cook sago.
I usually keep freshly-prepared sago in a bowl of cold water until ready to use but if I plan to keep the batch longer than a few days, I store the sago in a sterilized bottle with simple syrup to prolong shelf life. I included a recipe for packing syrup using brown sugar. Here are a few delicious things you can use sago:
- Ginataang Bilo Bilo-a delicious concoction of palm fruits, tubers, banana, glutinous rice balls, jackfruit and sago stewed in coconut milk
- Sago at Gulaman-a refreshing summer cooler made with gulaman cubes, sago and simple syrup
- Ginumis-a shaved ice dessert much like the classic Filipino halo-halo but uses gulaman cubes, sago, pinipig and coconut milk
- Buko Salad Drink-a must try! a rich and creamy drink filled with gulaman cubes, young coconut strips, nata de coco, sago, condensed milk and coconut milk.
