Mango Pomelo Sago: A Classic Summer Dessert of Hong Kong

One of the most classic and most popular summer desserts that I had growing up as a child in the Canton area in China was Mango Pomelo Sago (楊枝金露). It is hands down my all-time favorite. This healthy dessert is a must try. It has a very unique taste, and it just quenches your summer thirst with the mangos and the citrus as its featured ingredients.

Before we start with the receipt, there is a few things about this dessert that I would like to share with you. Sharing the culture and stories with friends and family definitely doubles the fun while enjoying the food!

There are some different explanations for the origin of Mango Pomelo Sago. But in every version it is consistent that it was invented in the 1980s by the famous Hong-Kongese Restaurant Lei Garden.

One version for Mango Pomelo Sago's origin is when Lei Garden opened up its first branch in Singapore in 1987, Chef Wing-Chee Wong specifically designed the desert for customers to cool off in the Southeast Asian tropical climate. He had adapted the traditional Chinese dessert slow cooking method by putting together cold syrup, sago, cream, pulps from a citrus called Pomelos, and mangos together and made the Mango Pomelo Sago. It is also said that often times there was a lot of leftover of the citrus fruit from making the popular raw fish salad in Singapore. It was then used as part of the creation for the Mango Pomelo Sago.

Before I learned about its origin, because the ingredients are so simple and the dessert simply is so classic, I had just thought that it had existed for a very long time as a traditional food rather than as a contemporary one. But I think what gave me that impression was actually its name. The English translation does not do justice. The Chinese name for the dessert is named after the divine magical bottle held by Guanyin, the most widely worshipped Buddhist goddess in Asia. Its literal translation is the "Manna of Willow Branch." In Journey to the West, one of the Four Great Classical novels of Chinese literature, Guanyin used the manna to revive a scared Ginseng fruit tree in Heaven, which the Monkey King had wrecked during his havoc in Heaven.

It is said that the Mango Pomelo Sago is as refreshing as Guanyin's Willow Branch Manna. Well. I hope the Mango Pomelo Sago you make will be just as refreshing and reviving you from this hot summer!

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Ingredients of Mango Pomelo Sago:

3 Mangos (Best with Philippine Mango)

1/2 Pomelo (Very difficult to find in North America. But Grapefruit is a widely used and is an authentic substitute)

100g Sago (If you can't find it, use tapioca or even aloe vera instead)

200ml Coconut Milk

300ml Milk (You can also use evaporated milk, which gives it a richer taste)

200ml Drinking Water

60g Sugar

Instructions:

1. Put sago in boiling water. It is best to simmer and not hard boiling it. For about 10 minutes or until it turns transparent. You can taste a piece to make sure it is cooked through. Drain well. Soak in cold water or rinse through too cool off for a few minutes. Then store it in refrigerator.

2. Put sugar, milk, coconut milk, and water in a bowl and mix well. Make sure the sugar is dissolved. Heat it up a bit if helps to dissolve the sugar. Place in refrigerator when cool.

3. Cut vertical slits along the sides of the pomelo and peel it, working from the top to bottom. Peel away the white membrane from a few wedges of pomelo and remove the pomelo sacs. Loosen the pomelo sacs and set aside.

4. Reserve half of the cubed mango and set aside for use as toppings for the dessert. Blend the rest of the mango into smoothie.

5. Mix mango smoothie, pomelo sacs and sago into coconut milk mixture.

6. Chill in refrigerator 1-2 hours for better taste and serve. Add mango cubes on top for garnishing.