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