Cook It! Sago-Cheese Custard

Tuesday, January 25, 2011 Jonette 2 Comments

Hi, everyone. Here's one particular recipe I tried my hand at last week, and one I'm raring to experiment with the next chance I get. The ingredients are pretty simple, and this requires no special machinery to work with. (I had to jimmy up my cookware for this, but I'll explain in a bit.)

Plus, I get to work with sago. Fun, tiny, jiggly sago. Heehee.



I took this recipe from Ms. Norrie Del Fierro's Popular Recipes of the Philippines. (It's available in National Bookstore should you want a copy for yourself. ISBN # 971-08-2890-8 and published 1986, just in case you're the type to hunt for this in a library.)

• 1 cup sago (or tapioca bubbles. I recommend using the tiny ones.)
• 1 big can of condensed milk
• 5 egg yolks, slightly beaten
• 1 big can evaporated milk
• 1/2 cup of grated cheese
• 1 teaspoon vanilla 

•  Prepare your double-boiler. Since I didn't have a double-boiler, I made do with a small saucepan and a small casserole of the same circumference. The saucepan was slightly big enough for a snug fit with the casserole on top. I filled the saucepan a little under half-full, fit the casserole on it, and presto.

• Combine the condensed milk, grated cheese, and eggs and cook until thick.   

• Add the sago...

• And the vanilla. 

• Mix well until the custard is even. 

• Taste the custard to see if the texture's to your liking. (I found my custard to be too thick for my taste, so I added about half a can of evaporated milk to dilute the concoction.)

• Watch your spoon sparkle with the joy of custard. 

• Let the custard cool for a bit, then chill -- or not, if you like your custard warm. 

This treat went a long way, considering that it was quite flavorful, could be further diluted with evaporated milk, and still taste great.

This dessert earned an eyebrow lift from James -- both eyebrows, actually. Ditas said, "Dilute, evap? What dilute?" My dad reminisced how his mom made a large batch of a sago dessert similar to this for my dad to take to his class Christmas party back in his High School years. The class had wanted a taste of the treat, but there was no ladle to serve it -- until the janitors came to save the day with their inventiveness.

I plan to experiment with this recipe and substitute mangoes for the cheese once they're in season, come summer. Ditas also suggested using coffee, and I think that's also very doable. What other flavors, I wonder?

~*~*~*~*

Update! colleague and baking expert Jib recommended I use Lindt, Ricoa's 100% Baking Chocolate, Hershey's Dark, and Cadbury's Cauville if I want to try making a chocolate version. The chip version might make the custard too sweet, as the chips themselves are already rather sweet.