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.