Vietnamese Coconut Tapioca "Soup" Pudding

I never seem to remember how much I love tapioca puddings. I think it's the texture that makes it so appealing for me personally. A local Vietnamese sandwich shop frequently has a delicious coconut tapioca pudding with bananas, only it's not firm like the tapioca puddings I'm used to; it's much more loose/watery. I finally got around to making my own tonight!

Coconut Tapioca "Soup" Pudding

Coconut Tapioca "Soup" Pudding (Che Chuoi)

Adapted from myRecipes and Food Network

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 C water
• 1 14oz can coconut milk
• 6 tbsp sugar
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/2 C small tapioca pearls
• 2 large bananas

Method

1. In a medium sized saucepan, combine the water and coconut milk and bring to a boil over medium heat. Add in sugar, salt, and tapioca pearls, stirring to prevent the tapioca from clumping.
2. Turn heat down to low and simmer gently for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally to break up tapioca pearls.
3. Halve each banana and cut into small 1/4" pieces. Add banana to the pan. Remove from heat, cover, and let sit for 15 minutes.

Serve tapioca warm or chill in fridge and serve cold.

I cut down on the sugar, but I think next time I will try with even less sugar, using perhaps 1/4 cup in total. I think this would also be divine served hot with a float of coconut cream over the top.
Update: As this chills, it gets pretty thick and is no longer "soup" like. So if you'd like a more loose pudding when cool, use half the amount of tapioca.

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Avocado Chocolate Pudding

You know those recipes that you aren't entirely sure of, but you go against your gut instinct and make it anyway, hoping you'll be proven wrong? Well, as a general rule, I used to think avocado should never go near anything sweet or dessert like until this raspberry ganache fudge cake came into my life. So I gave a vanilla pudding recipe, made from avocado, a shot and that was a big mistake. But I turned it into a pretty yummy chocolate pudding recipe.


Avocado Chocolate Pudding

1 medium avocado
3+ tbsp carob or cacao powder, to taste
1 tbsp vanilla
3 tbsp agave nectar
1/4 tsp salt
2/3 C cold water

Combine all ingredients in a blender and mix until smooth.


The avocado makes this pudding rich and decadent and the blending makes it nice and light!

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a few new things

I found this recipe a while back in Cat Cora's book, Cooking from the Hip. It's one of those "just wait til the season rolls around" recipes I was really excited about. I've never cooked with squash or lentils before, but it sounded so good I had to try it.



Curried Lentils with Butternut Squash

1 cup lentils
1 small butternut squash, cut into chunks
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp curry powder
1 tsp fresh grated ginger
1 tsp chili powder
kosher salt and pepper to taste

1. Preheat the oven to 375 and butter an 8x11" dish.
2. In a saucepan, add the lentils and enough water to cover. Bring to a boil, add the squash, and reduce down to a simmer. Cook for 25-30 minutes until liquid is reduced down and squash is tender.
3. Strain liquid from vegetables. Return back to pan and mash the squash lightly.
4. Spoon into the baking dish and bake for 20 minutes until hot.

I served mine over coconut basmati rice (using leftover coconut milk from the cupcakes...) which was delicious!


For dessert, I decided to run with the coconut theme and make some pudding...from another saved recipe.


Warm Banana-Coconut Pudding with Tapioca Pearls

3 cups water
1/3 cup small tapioca pearls
bananas, sliced in half moons
1 14 oz. can coconut milk
1/2 cup sugar
pinch of salt

1. In a saucepan, bring the water to a full boil. Add the tapioca pearls stirring constantly for 1 minute to avoid clumping. Slightly reduce the temperature to a strong simmer, stirring occasionally for 10 minutes or so. The mixute will thicken considerably.
2. Add the coconut milk, sugar, and salt and cook for a couple minutes.
3. Serve hot/warm with banana slices. Garnish with flaked coconut.
   

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