Coconut cream Tapioca pearls recipe

The Asian pearls...

I already told you about a dessert that I love and which is coconut cream tapioca pearls.

This is a Southeast Asian dessert widely eaten in Vietnam and China and also prepared in India.

Tapioca comes from the cassava root and is found in different forms in the world (fresh paste, powder, raw powder, granules ...).

According to the local use and recipes, many countries transform cassava.

In Congo (Center of Africa and the capital is Brazzaville), where I grew up, a dough like a polenta is made with powdered cassava and it replaces rice and pasta. This satiating paste is usually eaten with stews.But I don’t really like it as I don’t like polenta.

In West Africa, you will find a slightly granular powder cassava. It is called Gari. Cold water, sugar and peanuts added to Gari constitute either a dessert or a breakfast.

In Haiti where my mother is from, such as in the others West Indies and in some American Latin countries, cassava is sometimes cooked as a flatbread. This pancake or “bread” is a legacy of the Carib Indians.

To return to the tapioca pearls, they just started appear in Europe with the consumption of Bubble Tea. They are very fashionable right now.

I love tapioca pearls associated with coconut cream and served with fresh fruit as mango, pear , persimmon, ... and nuts , cashews , hazelnuts , pecans , almonds ...

Coconut milk and tapioca pearls are a dessert that can be adapted to a multitude of flavors. You can use vanilla, pandan flavoring or blossom water, rose water ... And if you do not like coconut cream, you can just use milk.

Notes:

Tapioca pearls can be found in Asian grocery stores.

At the end of the preparation, the pudding will have a sticky texture, this effect completely disappears once the cream kept cool.

In my recipe I used cow's milk but lactose intolerant people can use vegetable milk such as almond, rice or oats milk.

Here is the recipe.

Ingredients (4-6 people):

• 160 grams of tapioca pearls

• 360 ml of water (used to soak the pearls)

• 200 ml coconut cream

• 50 cl semi-skimmed milk

• 80 to 100 grams of sugar

To serve:

Fresh fruits and nuts of your choice

Method:

Rinse 160 gr of tapioca pearls and soak in 360 ml of water for about 20 minutes.

Heat a large saucepan over medium heat, pour in the soaked pearls with the remaining water (the pearls will absorb water) and add the milk.

Using a spatula, stir constantly as you would do for rice pudding.

The preparation will thicken fairly quickly and the pearls will become transparent. They are cooked and it takes about 10 minutes.

Add the coconut cream to the mixture, I used 38 % fat coconut cream but the regular one is also perfect.

Stir well.

Turn off the heat and add the sugar.

I add the sugar at the very end of the preparation to prevent the mixture from caramelizing and give the preparation a brown tint.

Allow to cool, place in a large bowl and store in the fridge about 3 hours before serving.

If the cream is a little bit compact, before serving you can add a little milk but if you respect the measurements you won’t need doing it.

I usually enjoy this tapioca pearls cream with fresh mango cutted into cubes and some nuts. Sometimes I add a tablespoon of maple syrup on the top!

tips: 

For a hot/cold effect, I warm cream in the microwave for 30 seconds before serving and I added fruits.

I hope you will enjoy this recipe as I do.
I thank you for your reading and sharing,
Chantal

Vietnamese Bo Bun and home sweet home

I first would like to apologize for my absence from the blog, I went to the Bahamas for holidays and I came back in France yesterday.

 To describe the end of the holidays I always have ​​formulas like " All good things come to an end " or " You should come back home to leave again," So this is my way to give me the courage to come back to a normal life . 
 It is on those words that I conclude my vacation. And as usually we think that holidays are too short. We would  like to have more time to explore , to have a rest, to enjoy ...
However, I' am happy to come back and meet with my relatives, family, friends and your blogs.

 To celebrate this return I wanted a meal that I love, the Vietnamese Bo Bun salad.
Of course nothing to do with Bahamian dishes that I've eaten.
I will devote an article to the Bahamas in the Travel section of the blog and I have the opportunity to talk about their friendly and nice people, their cuisine and their beautiful beaches .

Bo bun is a fragrant and fresh Vietnamese salad that contains cold and hot ingredients, raw and cooked as well.
I love Bo bun for its simplicity but also for the freshness of its ingredients.

Notes:

Most ingredients  for Bo Bun can be found  in the supermarket.
You can find fried onions  in Asian groceries.

Here's what you 'll need to make a Bun Bo :

Ingredients for 4:

• 500g tender beef fillet
• 500g vermicelli rice or soy
• 6 spring rolls cooked ( optional)
• 3 large carrots
• a cucumber
• A handful of bean sprouts (optional)
• A nice lettuce
• Mint leaves
• Coriander leaves
• Fried onions or crushed roasted peanuts
• Nuoc mam sauce (or sauce for spring rolls )
• oil
• Salt and black pepper

Method:

Boil a liter of water with a little salt. Remove the water from heat and pour in the noodles .
Soak and drain 6 minutes later. 
Dry the remaining water in the noodles  by keeping the pan a few seconds on the fire off. 
Set aside.

Wash the vegetables, peel and cut into fine sticks 4 to 5 cm .

Wash the lettuce, dry it and cut roughly.

In a large skillet heat a tablespoon of oil and cook the meat on both sides to your taste (I prefer my meat cooked rare for Bo bun ). Season with salt and pepper.
Cut the meat into pieces of about 4 cm and set aside.

Take 4 large bowls and divide equitably the green salad, the meat, the noodles, the carrots, the cucumber and the bean sprouts . Add pieces of cooked spring rolls .

Sprinkle with mint and coriander leaves washed and finely chopped .

Sprinkle each serving with crushed peanuts and fried onions.

Drizzle with nuoc mam sauce.
Serve immediately .

tips:

You can marinate the meat first with a tablespoon of fish sauce,  a teaspoon of rice vinegar, chopped lemongrass, and a little garlic puree .

I hope you will like this fresh and fragrant salad.

I add some pictures taken in San Salvador (Bahamas) .

Thank you for stopping by here and for your comments
Chantal