Vanilla Sago Gula Melaka

It is blistering H-O-T out here in Penang, Malaysia. It is the 3rd day of the Chinese New Year. I sure got a lot of cookies and oranges from my neighbours. I also got some angpows eventhough married. I'm so lucky to be living in a multi-cultural country!

A belated Gong Hei Fatt Choy to all my Chinese readers here. I have been cought up with my studies & travel, I missed a couple of weekend food blogging! I hope that everyone had a blast on this festive weekend.

Sago (or sagu) pearls - are used in various cakes and desserts here. It is very similar to tapioca balls, both having the starchy texture and white colours. Some of my favourite sago desserts are the sago gula melaka, bubur kacang hijau (mung beans dessert), pengat pisang (banana dessert) and a few others. For me, the simplest and tastiest way to enjoy sago is this recipe that I am posting here.

For a hot day, this is one of the ways to cool down and just enjoy a bowl of Sago Gula Melaka while watching my favourite TV show... I have to say, instead of preparing it the traditional way using Pandan (Screwpine) leaves and gula melaka (Palm Sugar), I used 2 alternative ingredients that still made the dessert a tasty, delicious one.
::Vanilla Sago Gula Melaka ::
Serves 3-4

You need 4 small jelly moulds to shape the sago like in the picture above.

1 1/2 cups small sago pearls
1 cup coconut milk (preferably low fat), mix with a pinch of salt
4 tablespoon brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla essence

Drain the sago pearls in cool running water and throw them in a pot of boiling water. Stir to loosen them up, until they turn from white to transparent. Drain the water, and pour ino the jelly moulds. Leave to cool down and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.

To make the vanilla sugar syrup, Cook the brown sugar with 1 cup of water and add the vanilla essence. Use fresh vanilla extract if you have them. Pour in a small bowl and refrigerate, also do refrigerate the coconut milk to keep it cool.

When ready to be served, loosen the sago from the moulds by running a knife around the mould and shake it into a small serving bowl. Pour in 2-3 tablespoon of santan and 1 or 2 tablespoon of the vanilla sugar syrup, less if you prefer less sweetness to it. Enjoy with a glass of cool iced tea (or any other cooling drinks you want!).

Note:
1. You can also just pour the cooked sago ino serving bowls instead of moulding them first.
2. This dessert may be served hot as well, depends on your preference.
3. Milk can be substituted, instead of coconut milk.

Grilled Asparagus with Rosemary Butter

This would be one of my shortest post, it is a light recipe I made sometime ago. A long overdue post :-) I started to enjoy asparagus when mum bought some and stir fired it with some fresly pounded chili sambal. It was very Malaysian, for a very western green. When we planned a barbeque last December, I decided to make some grilled asparagus for everyone. It was something we don't frequently eat, but that is what makes it even special - when we don't have something too often, it becomes special.

There are 2 common sizes of asparagus I found in Penang - the big, light green ones with a slight light purple hint on its tips, and the darher shade of green and skinny ones. I personally prefer the big ones.

:: Grilled Asparagus with Rosemary Butter Recipe ::
1 bunch large asparagus
1 tablespoon fresh rosemary, roughly chopped
3 tablespoon butter, softened
a pinch of salt

Clean asparagus and cut an inch of the bottom part to remove the hard part.
Mix the freshly chopped rosemary with the butter, and combine with the asparagus.
Grill them over the barbeque grill or a grill pan until asparagus cooks. You will see slight grill marks on the green. About 5 minutes each side. Serve with the rest of the barbequed food!