Mango Bango is a Filipino tapioca dessert. It's been making its rounds on social media again, so I thought I would make a bowl for the summer. The one I will be making today uses coconut milk, but you can easily use heavy cream or more milk instead.
With summer in full swing, I've been making more and more refreshing recipes at home. Mango is my wife's favorite fruit so I decided to make this mango bango!
It's a little bit late in the season now for mangoes but I was still able to find some very sweet ones at my local grocery store for cheap. If you're on a budget, I think mid-June is the best time to make this recipe as that's when every grocery store has them on sale.
What is mango bango?
Mango Bango is the Filipino version of mango sago. Mango sago is just a sweet dessert made with tapioca pearls, mango, and milk. The main difference is that mango bango has coconut jelly (or nata de coco) while mango sago does not. From my experience, mango bango is also slightly more runny.
My absolute favorite part about mango bango is the variety of textures. You get chewiness from the tapioca pearls, softness from the mango, and firmness from the coconut jelly.
Key Ingredients
Mango: Many different types of mangoes will work great, but Ataulfo mangos give the best results in my opinion. They are typically sweeter than other mangos. If your mangoes are unripe, a cool trick I have learned is to bury them in a bin of white rice and they will soften within 48 hours. The skin does not change color but the flesh will be much softer.
Tapioca pearls: These usually come in two sizes. You will need the smaller ones which are about the size of caviar. They take about 25 minutes to cook through. After cooking, they should be completely translucent with no white dots in the center. If you notice there are still white dots, just continue cooking the tapioca a bit longer.
Nata de coco: I personally love to add nata de coco but if you can't find it then leave it out. It's very similar to coconut jelly, so you could just use that as well. Here is the brand I found at my local Asian grocery store:
Coconut milk: I have been trying to include less fat in my diet so I'm using light coconut milk today. Feel free to use full-fat or even substitute with heavy cream or more milk.
Sweetened condensed milk: This is incredibly important for sweetening the mango bango. In the past, I have used sugar but it does not dissolve properly in the milk mixture. Another option is honey but I don't like the floral taste that it leaves.
Mango Bango
Ingredients
- ½ cup small tapioca pearls
- 1 cup coconut milk
- 1 cup milk
- 2-3 ripe mangos (chopped)
- ¼-1/3 cup sweetened condensed milk (add more if you like it sweeter)
- 1 jar nata de coco (coconut jelly)
Instructions
- Bring a medium pot of water to a boil. Add the tapioca pearls and reduce the heat to medium-high. The pearls should be constantly moving in the water. Cook for 25-30 minutes until completely translucent. If the pearls have a white dot in the center, continue cooking until they disappear.
- Rinse the tapioca under cold water, then drain. Transfer the tapioca to a large bowl.
- Stir in the coconut milk, milk, chopped mango, sweetened condensed milk, and nata de coco (feel free to add some of the syrup from the jar too). Eat it right away or chill in the fridge for one hour before serving.
Tess D
I made this and everyone enjoyed it! Good recipe
Grumpy
So happy to hear it, Tess! Thanks for the review