Mango, pomelo and sago

Ingredientsserves 4

Method

1. Sago: bring a litre of water to the boil, add the sago, stir once, boil five to eight minutes until only a white dot remains in each pearl, then off the heat, lid on, ten to fifteen minutes until clear; rinse under cold water and drain. Boiled to the end without the rest it turns to a gluey lump; unrinsed it sticks.
2. Cut the thick peel from the pomelo, strip every bit of white membrane from the segments and pull the flesh into single sacs; any membrane left on makes the bowl bitter.
3. Dissolve the sugar in 150 ml of water and cool it to a syrup. Cut two of the mangoes from the stone and blend the flesh with the milk and coconut cream until smooth; taste first and add only as much syrup as the fruit needs. Sieve the purée if the variety is stringy.
4. Dice the third mango small.
5. Stir the sago, most of the pomelo and most of the diced mango into the blended base and chill at least an hour.
6. Serve cold, each bowl topped with the rest of the pomelo and mango and a spoon of evaporated milk. A watery base means under-ripe mango or too much milk; with a mild mango, use less milk.

Take care

• Contains milk. Coconut is not a declared tree-nut allergen in Australia; anyone allergic to coconut should take note.

The story

楊枝甘露 is the one 糖水 Hong Kong invented rather than inherited: created at 利苑酒家 in 1984 and named for the willow branch and sweet dew in 觀音's hand, it is now on every Chinese dessert menu in the world. A 糖水舖 dish that families copied at home once mangoes got cheap, and in Australia the mango is better than the original.

Same wall

Sago in coconut milk with mangoMango pudding

Lo Fo Tong is cultural food-heritage reference, not medical advice. If you are pregnant, unwell or on medication, talk to your doctor or registered practitioner before changing what is in the pot.