Saturday, November 14, 2009

Sweetened Banana and Sago Pearls in Coconut Milk

OR Minatamis na Saba at Sago with Gata...

I was too curious and eager to make this since I laid my eyes on its recipe page. I have been eating sweetened bananas with the usual evaporated milk or condensed milk or fresh milk, so why not try something new?

The original recipe and procedure can be found in
Good Housekeeping's Easy Everyday Meals vol 6. Page 122.

For this version, I used:

8 ripe saba bananas - sliced horizontally as seen on the photo
1 1/2 cup brown sugar
more or less 3 cups water
1 cup Cooked Sago Pearls
2 stalks pandan leaves
1/2 cups fresh or canned
gata (coconut milk)

First make the sweetened banana:

In a saucepan, combine sugar and water. Stir, add the bananas and stir well, bring to a boil, then lower the heat. Simmer until bananas are tender and the liquid is somewhat thick and syrupy.

Feel free to add sugar and/or water (little by little) to achieve your desired amount of sweetness and consistency.

Then add the sago pearls, and the pandan leaves, simmer for about 5 more minutes so the sago will also absorb a little sweetness from the syrup.


In case cooked sago pearls aren't available you can use:

1/2 cups small sago (the packed ones from the supermarket)
3 cups water
2 stalks pandan leaves

To cook the sago pearls:
Boil sago with pandan and water until cooked, this may run for more or less 30 minutes, depending on the size of your sago pearls. When done, wash sago and add them to the sweetened bananas, then same drill as above,
simmer for about 5 more minutes so the sago will also absorb a little sweetness from the syrup.

***If you have access to the market, I'm sure there are stalls selling cooked Sago Pearls (together with other
Halo halo ingredients). It's good to use the cooked ones to save time, effort and gas. Just wash them carefully with water and drain well before adding them to the bananas et al.

To serve, put bananas and sago pearl on a bowl, pour the syrup, some crushed ice (optional) and lastly, pour over the coconut milk.

This is one of the many versions of our good ol' saba con yelo that I love to make and eat (oo naman!). Indeed it's a great way to appreciate Gata (Coconut Cream) in your dessert!


Thanks to Good Housekeeping! :)

Happy banana festival! Happy weekend! :)

8 comments:

  1. Hello
    Banana is one of my favorite fruits.I have never made a dish of banana and I think I should try for this.Thank you very much for this recipe.I hope everyone will like this recipe in my family.

    kelp

    ReplyDelete
  2. thanks rose! yes, i hope your family will like this! :)

    ReplyDelete
  3. Hello. I would like to ask permission to "borrow" your photograph up top of minatamis na saging to accompany a call for entries to the 10th Doreen G. Fernandez Food Writing Awards, this year's topic being HIMAGAS, sweets, or minatamis. The announcement will appear on the Doreen G. Fernandez Facebook page (http://www.facebook.com/doreen.gamboa.fernandez)and blog (http://doreenfernandez.wordpress.com/). With acknowledgment, of course, to you.

    Hoping for your kind consideration.

    Best,
    Maya Besa Roxas

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. hi maya! sorry for the late reply. thanks for your message and for asking. no problem!

      Delete
  4. Hello...in cooking this dish..which part do we add coconut milk

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  5. Hello...in cooking this dish..which part do we add coconut milk

    ReplyDelete
  6. Hello...in cooking this dish..which part do we add coconut milk

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  7. how to maintain the softness of the sago when ice has been added.

    ReplyDelete