Mango pudding

Every single Cantonese restaurant in the world has mango pudding on the menu. If white people order deep-fried ice cream, then Asians order mango pudding. For Mr Wong, I wanted to give this classic more texture and put my own stamp on it. I added tapioca, those mouth-popping balls that you eat with frozen yoghurt, fresh pomelo and mango, as well as passionfruit granita to accentuate the tropical fruit vibe.

Credit: Mr Hong by Dan Hong (Murdoch Books)

• serves

  4

• prep

  25 minutes

• cook

  30 minutes

• difficulty

  Mid

Ingredients

Passionfruit granita

• 100 ml (3½ fl oz) passionfruit pulp (no seeds)
• 150 ml (5 fl oz) sugar syrup (see below)

Pudding

• 700 g (1 lb 9 oz) mango purée
• 3½ tbsp sugar syrup 
• 150 ml (5 fl oz) evaporated milk
• 12 g (¼ oz) gelatine leaves

Tapioca

• 100 g (3½ oz) tapioca pearls
• 375 ml (13 fl oz/1½ cups) evaporated milk

The rest

• 1 fresh mango, cut into 8 mm (3⁄8 inch) cubes
• 100 g (3½ oz) mango ‘boba’ balls
• 150 g (5½ oz) pomelo flesh, broken up
• 10 sprigs baby coriander (cilantro) sprigs, to garnish

Sugar syrup

• 1 kg (2 lb 4 oz) sugar
• 1 litre (35 fl oz/4 cups) water

Freezing time 2 hours

Soaking time 5 minutes

Instructions

To make the passionfruit granita, combine both the ingredients in a bowl with 300 ml (10½ fl oz) water. Pour the mixture into an ice-cream tray and put it in the freezer. Every 30 minutes or so, stir the granita with a fork, scraping the ice crystals off the bottom and sides of the tray. Break up any chunks of ice that have formed and return the tray to the freezer. Repeat this step three or four times.

In a large bowl, combine the mango purée, sugar syrup and evaporated milk and whisk well. In a separate bowl, soak the gelatine leaves in cold water for about 5 minutes until soft. Remove the leaves from the water and gently squeeze out the excess. Set aside.

Add 150 ml (5 fl oz) of the mango mixture to a small saucepan over a medium heat. When it starts simmering around the edges, add the soaked gelatine leaves and stir until the gelatine has completely dissolved. Stir this mixture back into the remaining mango mixture and whisk thoroughly. Divide the mixture among four shallow moulds, cover and refrigerate overnight.

Fill a large saucepan with water and bring to the boil. Add the tapioca pearls and cook them on a rolling boil for 5–8 minutes, or until they have become soft and transparent. Drain and refresh the pearls in cold water. Put in a bowl and set aside. Just before you’re ready to serve, add the evaporated milk, stirring well to combine.

To serve, unmould the puddings onto serving plates. Spoon about 1½ tablespoons of tapioca on top of each pudding, followed by 1 tablespoon of mango cubes and 1 tablespoon of mango balls. Scatter some pomelo flesh all over. Spoon about 2 tablespoons of passionfruit granita around each pudding and garnish with a few sprigs of baby coriander.

To make sugar syrup

Makes 1.75 litres (61 fl oz/7 cups)

 

Put both the sugar and water in a saucepan over a high heat. Bring to a boil, stirring to ensure the sugar has completely dissolved. Cool, transfer to a container with a lid and keep refrigerated.

Recipe and image from Mr Hong by Dan Hong (Murdoch Books) $49.99 available now.

Cook's Notes

Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.