Sago soup 西米露

Last week I was looking up recipes I had a chance at making on my hot plate -- a narrow list that solely includes things that can be boiled, such as soup and noodles -- to use some of my stash of foods the school has given us teachers for holidays.  I have things like dried mushroom, jujubes, lotus seeds, etc.  I found that an obvious thing to do was red or green bean (different than American beans, I think we'd call them azuki and mung beans) soup.  All I'd need to buy was sago, the tiny tapioca balls.  Well, long story short I've gone crazy and already made a huge bowl of red bean soup, and today decided to make a quick and easy sago milk soup, or 西迷露。 I've had it at restaurants and quite enjoyed it, so I'm thrilled that mine turned out the same. I added apples instead of taro, since that's what's in my fridge today.

The incredibly easy recipe via pictures tutorial:

Sago starts out small, white, and dry.

Boil in water for 10 minutes

The outside will be translucent and the inside still white.  Turn off heat and allow to sit for 10 more minutes, it will continue to cook itself.

The white inside will become clear.  Drain the water and return sago to pot.

Add coconut juice and a fruit for flavor, such as mango, taro, or apples.  Cook for a couple minutes for flavor.

It's usually served chilled, if you can wait that long.  As it sits, the sago will expand and thicken the soup slightly.

And the delicious result:

Enjoy!