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! :)