Lighter Pomelo Sago

POMELO COLLECTION | DESSERT

A lighter take on classic mango pomelo sago, with mostly soy milk instead of coconut milk and no added sugar. Creamy, cold, and full of vitamin C.

Ingredients

For the Sago

• 1/4 cup small sago pearls (small white tapioca pearls)
• 4 cups water, for boiling

For the Mango Base

• 2 cups frozen mango chunks
• 1 1/2 cups unsweetened soy milk, cold
• 1/4 cup light coconut milk
• Pinch of kosher salt
• 1 to 2 teaspoons honey, optional, only if your mango is not sweet

To Finish

• 1 ripe fresh mango, diced
• 1 cup pomelo segments, broken into small pieces, from about 1/4 of a large pomelo
• Fresh mint leaves, for garnish

Instructions

1. Bring 4 cups of water to a rolling boil in a medium pot. Add the sago pearls and stir constantly for the first minute to keep them from clumping or sticking. Continue boiling for 10 minutes, stirring every few minutes.
2. Turn off the heat, cover the pot, and let the sago sit for 15 minutes. The pearls will finish cooking in the leftover heat and become almost completely clear. It’s okay if a few pearls still have a small white dot in the center.
3. Pour the sago into a fine mesh strainer and rinse under cold running water. Gently stir with your fingers until the pearls feel cool and separate, not sticky. Let the sago drain.
4. Add the frozen mango, cold soy milk, light coconut milk, and a pinch of salt to a blender. Blend until the mixture is completely smooth and thick, about 1 minute.
5. Taste the mango base. If your mango is ripe and fragrant, it should be sweet enough. Only add honey, one teaspoon at a time, if you think it needs more sweetness.
6. Stir the drained sago into the mango base. Make sure the sago is completely cool before adding it. If the sago is still warm, it can cause the milk base to separate.
7. Peel the pomelo and break it into small pieces, removing all the membrane and any white pith.
8. Divide the mango sago into 4 bowls or glasses. Top each one with diced fresh mango, pomelo pieces, and a few mint leaves. Add the pomelo just before serving, since it can make the dessert bitter if it sits too long.
9. Serve the dessert cold. For an extra chill, you can refrigerate the bowls for 20 minutes before adding the toppings, or chill the finished base with the sago for up to 2 hours.

Equipment

Medium pot with a lid, fine mesh strainer, blender, cutting board and chef’s knife, paring knife, measuring cups and spoons, large mixing bowl, rubber spatula, and 4 serving bowls or glasses.

Culinary Medicine Highlights

• The main difference from the traditional recipe is the saturated fat content. A classic version with a cup of full-fat coconut milk for four servings has about 12 grams of saturated fat in each bowl, even before adding evaporated milk. That’s more than half of the recommended daily limit in just one dessert. This version has just over 1 gram. Using mostly soy milk instead of coconut milk and relying on frozen mango for creaminess makes this possible. Since saturated fat raises LDL cholesterol, reducing it is a common recommendation for heart health.
• There’s no added sugar in this recipe unless you decide to add a teaspoon of honey. The traditional dessert usually includes a quarter cup of sugar or sugar syrup for four servings, plus condensed milk. Here, ripe mango provides plenty of natural sweetness. The sugar in this bowl comes from whole fruit, so you also get fiber, water, and vitamins.
• Mango and pomelo together turn this into a dessert rich in vitamin C, which is pretty rare. One bowl gives you about 80 percent of your daily vitamin C. Mango also adds vitamin A, folate, and potassium, while pomelo brings even more potassium.
• Unsweetened soy milk adds protein, with about the same amount per cup as dairy milk. Most brands are also fortified with calcium and vitamin B12. This means the dessert offers a bit of both, which helps people who don’t eat much dairy.
• Sago pearls are mostly starch and are included for their texture. A quarter cup split among four servings is a small amount. It’s important to note that they add carbohydrates but not much nutrition.

Nutrition

Per serving, based on 4 servings. One serving is about 1 cup. Calculated without the optional honey.

Calories	165	Vitamin C	73 mg (81%)
Total Fat	3 g (4%)	Vitamin K	6 mcg (5%)
Saturated Fat	1 1/2 g (7%)	Calcium	129 mg (10%)
Monounsaturated Fat	1/2 g	Iron	1 mg (4%)
Polyunsaturated Fat	1 g	Potassium	450 mg (10%)
Trans Fat	0 g	Folate	75 mcg DFE (19%)
Cholesterol	0 mg (0%)	Zinc	1/2 mg (4%)
Sodium	75 mg (3%)	Magnesium	32 mg (8%)
Total Carbohydrates	33 g (12%)	Manganese	1/5 mg (9%)
Dietary Fiber	3 g (10%)	Phosphorus	81 mg (6%)
Total Sugars	20 g	Vitamin B6	1/5 mg (11%)
Added Sugars	0 g (0%)	Vitamin B12	1 mcg (42%)
Protein	4 g (8%)	Niacin (B3)	1 mg (7%)
Vitamin A	100 mcg RAE (11%)

Storage

• Refrigerator: Keep the mango base, sago, and pomelo in separate containers. The mango base lasts for 2 days in a sealed jar. Stir or blend it again before serving, as it may separate a bit. Pomelo stays fresh for 4 to 5 days. Cooked sago is best enjoyed the same day you make it. After about 4 hours in the fridge, it becomes firm and loses its chewy texture. If you need to prepare it ahead, store it in cold water in the fridge and use it within a day. Once assembled, mango sago tastes best within 2 hours.
• Freezer: Don’t freeze the finished dessert, as the sago will become hard and chalky. The mango base alone freezes well for up to 3 months and makes great ice pops. See the Tips and Tricks section below for how.
• Serving temperature: Serve this dessert cold.

Tips and Tricks

• This recipe works best with sweet, ripe mangoes, so pick the ripest ones you can find. Ataulfo, or honey mango, is a great choice because it’s very sweet and has almost no fibers. A ripe mango smells good at the stem and feels slightly soft when you press it. Frozen mango is picked when it’s ripe, so it’s the usual choice for the base and is often sweeter than fresh mangoes that are out of season.
• Look for small white sago pearls or small tapioca pearls at an Asian market. Don’t use the large dark boba pearls meant for bubble tea. Brands may cook at different speeds, so if the package instructions are different from these, follow what’s on the package.
• This recipe has soy. If you have a soy allergy, use 1 percent dairy milk or unsweetened oat milk instead. Some people with tree nut allergies also avoid coconut, so check first or leave out the light coconut milk and use more of your chosen milk.
• Troubleshooting: If your sago is clumpy, the water may not have been boiling or you didn’t stir in the first minute. If the dessert is gluey, the sago probably wasn’t rinsed enough. A bitter taste means some pith was left on the pomelo or the pomelo sat in the base too long. If the base is thin and watery, you may have used fresh mango instead of frozen. Add a few ice cubes or some frozen mango and blend again. If the base separates or looks curdled, the sago was likely added while still warm.
• Pour the mango base, without the sago, into ice pop molds and freeze. It makes a creamy, no-sugar-added frozen treat that kids and adults both love, and it is a good use of any leftover base.

Citations

Pomelo and grapefruit medication interactions: Bailey, D. G., Dresser, G., & Arnold, J. M. O. (2013). Grapefruit-medication interactions: Forbidden fruit or avoidable consequences? CMAJ, 185(4), 309-316. https://doi.org/10.1503/cmaj.120951

Saturated fat and cardiovascular disease: Sacks, F. M., Lichtenstein, A. H., Wu, J. H. Y., Appel, L. J., Creager, M. A., Kris-Etherton, P. M., Miller, M., Rimm, E. B., Rudel, L. L., Robinson, J. G., Stone, N. J., & Van Horn, L. V. (2017). Dietary fats and cardiovascular disease: A presidential advisory from the American Heart Association. Circulation, 136(3), e1-e23. https://doi.org/10.1161/CIR.0000000000000510

Added sugars: Johnson, R. K., Appel, L. J., Brands, M., Howard, B. V., Lefevre, M., Lustig, R. H., Sacks, F., Steffen, L. M., & Wylie-Rosett, J. (2009). Dietary sugars intake and cardiovascular health: A scientific statement from the American Heart Association. Circulation, 120(11), 1011-1020. https://doi.org/10.1161/CIRCULATIONAHA.109.192627