Mango Sago (杨枝甘露)

Name: Mango Sago (杨枝甘露)
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 15 min
Total time: 30 min
Ingredients: 1/4 cup small tapioca pearls (sago); 6 Ataulfo mangos ((or 3 Tommy Atkins mango)); 1/4 cup water; 1/4 cup sugar; Pinch of salt; 1 cup coconut milk

By Maggie Zhu

• Published Jul 9, 2026

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My Mango sago is a chilled Hong Kong style dessert with a smooth ripe mango and coconut milk base, chewy tapioca pearls, and fresh diced mango on top. The dessert is naturally dairy free in my version, comes together in a few stages at the stove and the blender, and tastes like a Cantonese dessert shop in a bowl.

Mango sago, also called 杨枝甘露 (yang zhi gan lu) in Chinese, is a popular cold dessert across Hong Kong and Taiwan. The base is ripe mango blended with coconut milk and a touch of sweetener, poured over cooked tapioca pearls and finished with more diced mango. You’ll find it on my blog in the chilled Asian dessert collection, alongside recipes like black rice pudding with coconut milk and mango sticky rice, where ripe fruit and coconut are some of my favorite ingredients to work with.

The first time I had this dessert was at the Beijing branch of the Hong Kong dessert shop Honeymoon Dessert (满记甜品) when it opened in the city. The sweet creamy fruity base loaded with chewy tapioca pearls and chunks of mango pulled me in on the first spoonful, and it became my favorite summer dessert for years. I never thought about making it at home until I moved to the US, where the closest Asian dessert shop is a 20 minute drive, and I finally decided to learn the dish in my own kitchen.

Today’s version is a revised and improved take on the recipe I originally published a couple years ago. The original used evaporated milk and a layered restaurant style assembly, both of which I have now dropped because the evaporated milk diluted the mango flavor and the layered pour was fussier than a home dessert needs to be. Give this recipe a try by following my step-by-step instructions below, and I promise it’ll become one of your favorite summer desserts. It’s that good!

Ingredients

To make this decadent mango sago dessert recipe, I use the ingredients listed below, along with a few notes on each one.

Tapioca pearls (sago): I use small tapioca pearls labeled sago at my Asian grocery store.

Mangos: I reach for Ataulfo mangos when I can find them because they are smaller, very sweet when ripen, and have a buttery yellow flesh that blends to a smooth base. Tommy Atkins mangos work too, I just use half as many since each fruit is bigger. Two of the mangos go on top diced, the rest go into the blender for the base.

Simple syrup: I dissolve sugar and a pinch of salt in hot water to make a quick syrup, which lets me sweeten the mango base without adding another dairy product.

Coconut milk: I use canned coconut milk for a creamy base that does not water down the mango.

How to Make

1. Cook the tapioca pearls: Bring 3 cups of water to a boil in a small saucepan. Add the tapioca pearls and stir occasionally so they do not stick to the bottom. Boil for 12 minutes or so, until the pearls turn transparent with a small white dot in the middle of each. If the white dot is still large, boil for another 1 to 2 minutes.

2. Stop the cook and hold the pearls: Drain the cooked pearls in a fine sieve and rinse them under cold tap water until the pearls are no longer warm to the touch. Lower the sieve into a bowl of tap water so the pearls stay submerged and do not dry out. Set aside.

3. Make the simple syrup: Heat 1/4 cup of water in the microwave until hot. Stir in the sugar and a pinch of salt until the sugar fully dissolves.

4. Dice the topping mangos: Cut 2 of the mangos for the topping. I slice along each side of the pit, score the flesh in a small grid through the skin, then push the skin from underneath so the cubes pop up for easy scooping. Set the diced mango aside.

5. Blend the base: Pit the rest of the mangos and add the flesh to a blender. Add 2 tablespoons of the simple syrup and the coconut milk. Blend on high until the base is smooth. Taste the base. If it is not sweet enough, blend in more syrup a teaspoon at a time. If the base feels too thick to spoon, blend in a splash of water until it pours.

6. Assemble the bowls: Divide the mango base between four small serving bowls. Spoon the cooked tapioca pearls into each bowl and give the bowl a gentle stir so the pearls suspend in the base. Top each bowl with the diced mango. Serve at room temperature, or chill the bowls in the fridge for 30 minutes for a colder dessert.

mango sago serve in a glass with fruit topping

Cooking notes

Use the ripest mangos you can find: The mango is the loudest flavor in the bowl, so a ripe sweet mango carries the whole dessert. Press the fruit with a light touch, it should give a little under your thumb and smell sweet at the stem end. If the mangoes are not ripen yet, simply let it sit on your kitchen counter for a few days. Store ripen mangoes in the fridge. An under-ripe mango will need more syrup to taste right, and the base will lose its mango character.

Submerge the cooked pearls right away: Cooked tapioca pearls dry out and stick to each other within minutes of draining. Submerging the sieve directly into a bowl of cool tap water keeps the pearls loose and chewy until I am ready to assemble.

Adjust the base for the coconut you are using: Canned coconut milk gives a thick creamy base that usually needs a splash of water at the blender to pour smoothly. A coconut beverage from a carton is thinner already and usually does not need any extra water. Taste the base after the first blend and adjust before the bowls go together.

Save the imperfect mango slices for the blender: The two mangos I dice for the top should be the ones with the smoothest flesh and the prettiest cubes. The mangos with bruised spots or uneven flesh go straight into the blender, where the texture does not matter.

Sweeten to the mango, not to the recipe: Mango sweetness varies with the variety and the ripeness, so the syrup amount is a guide and not a fixed measure. I start with a small pour of the syrup into the blender, taste the base, then add more a little at a time until it is sweet enough to enjoy on its own with a spoon.

Serving Suggestions

I serve mango sago straight from the fridge as a chilled dessert at the end of a Cantonese or Hong Kong style dinner. My husband and I usually eat the bowls on a hot afternoon, with the rest of the base waiting in the fridge for tomorrow.

For a fuller summer dessert party, I make the mango sago alongside a tropical fruit plate and a couple of warmer baked items so the table has range. A platter of coconut mochi gives guests a soft chewy bite that echoes the tapioca pearls, sesame miso shortbread sandwich is also another one of my favorites, and a tray of coconut cream buns finishes the table with a soft pillowy pastry.

Frequently Ask Questions

Can I use frozen mango?

Yes. Frozen mango works well when fresh mangoes aren’t in season. Thaw it completely before blending, and save a few cubes for garnish if desired.

What do I do if my tapioca pearls still have a white dot after the package time?

The white dot is the doneness cue, not the clock. If the dot is still visible at minute 12, keep boiling and check in 1 to 2 minute increments until only a tiny dot or no dot is left. Pearl size varies brand to brand, and large pearls take longer than small ones, so I trust the cue over the timer.

How long do leftovers keep in the fridge and freezer?

The assembled bowls are best the same day because the tapioca pearls slowly absorb the base and lose some of their bounce overnight. But if you want to make this dessert ahead of time, overnight chilling in the fridge works. I do not freeze mango sago, the tapioca pearls turn hard and grainy after thawing, and the mango base separates into a watery layer and a coconut layer that does not blend back smoothly.

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