This week's destination for My Kitchen My World was chosen by the new MKMW moderator, Lauren of I'll Eat You. She chose Cambodia. Yeah, Cambodia. Never in my life have I even thought about Cambodian food. So this was a fun challenge.A fun challenge that I failed to live up to. I chose a delicious-looking Cambodian chicken curry to try, and never got around to making it. I would today, but I'll be too busy to do anything more complicated than macaroni and cheese. So oh well to that. Sigh.
I did, however, also find a recipe for Cambodian Tapioca-Banana Pudding, and I made that yesterday. So I'll go ahead and post that, okay?
Sorry it isn't all that photogenic. It wasn't pretty, but it tasted pretty good. :-)
Cambodian Tapioca-Banana Pudding
1/2 cup small pearl tapioca
7 cups water, divided
5 medium ripe bananas, sliced (I only had two, so that's all I used)
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup white sugar
3/4 cup coconut milk (I substituted regular milk and 1/4 cup shredded coconut. I didn't like it with shredded coconut. Don't add shredded coconut)
Place 2 cups of water in a microwave-safe dish and heat until warm in the microwave, about 2 minutes. Add the tapioca and let stand for 10 minutes (mine were larger tapioca pearls, so I let it stand for closer to an hour). Drain in a sieve. You'll have a mushy puddle of tapioca left over.
Pour the remaining water into a saucepan and add the drained tapioca. Bring to a boil, then simmer over medium heat until the tapioca begins to turn transparent. Stir frequently to avoid sticking (Here is where I added the shredded coconut. I didn't like it with shredded coconut. Don't add shredded coconut)
When the tapioca is transparent, stir in the bananas, sugar and salt. Simmer for 10 to 15 more minutes, stirring frequently. When the bananas are broken down fairly well, remove from the heat and stir in the coconut milk until well blended. The tapioca pearls will become visible and the pudding will be the consistency of thick soup. Taste and adjust the sugar if desired.
Cool to room temperature or slightly warmer. Stir again before serving.
This is the first time I've ever made tapioca pudding. The only tapioca pudding I've ever eaten has been in those silly little Jell-O pudding cups, and I never cared for it much. Now that I've made it, I know that tapioca pudding is yet another thing that just tastes better when it's homemade. I mean, look at all those fun little tapioca balls - they're tender and soft, not rubbery like in the commercial pudding.
This had a fun banana flavor that went over really well with Zaylee and Thomas. Like I've pointed out, I didn't like it with shredded coconut. So next time I'll skip that, and just use regular milk. Or maybe some evaporated milk would make this even better. You can use the coconut milk that the recipe calls for, but I won't because it costs more. :-) And next time I want to try it with all five bananas - talk about banana flavor explosion!
Check out what other My Kitchen My World-ers made this week.
I love homemade tapioca pudding! My mom's recipe has an egg in it, and once she did not stir well enough and so there were bits of scrambled egg in the pudding, which was weird. So if you make homemade regular tapioca pudding make sure you stir it well to avoid scrambled egg in it! :)
ReplyDeleteThanks for the tip! I can imagine how funny it would taste to have scrambled egg in your pudding, lol! :-)
ReplyDeletethat looks yummy! for some reason i have never been able to really really really like tapioca. my sister loves it though.
ReplyDeleteI love tapioca pudding - sadly, I'm the only one in the family. I'm sure I'd love this version - especially with the coconut milk.
ReplyDeleteI have done stuff with coconut milk - back when I was a splurge chef - and it seems to me that you could use the whole "milk and shredded coconut" thing, but stick it in your blender first. Maybe sort of rehydrate the coconut in the milk, warm it up a bit, you know? Then toss it in the blender when the coconut has gotten softer. Whiz it up and use that instead. I mean, it works for the zucchini, so why not this? Coconut is moister coming out of a fresh coconut so it should work. Like rehydrating raisins, or something?
ReplyDeleteIt looks yummy though!
This is my favorite dessert for South East Asian meal. It's delicious, don't worry about the appearance. I think it looks pretty yummy!
ReplyDeleteI thought about a dessert but I'm just doing a savory dish - but we won't get getting to it until tomorrow! I love tapioca, unfortunately, Grumpy does not.
ReplyDeleteI love tapioca! Banana would be a perfect accompaniment. The coconut milk probably makes it extra delish and authentic- they use a LOT of coconut over there.
ReplyDeleteHmmm, I tried making a comment but it didn't seem to work, so I'll try again. Sorry if there is a duplication...I like this idea "my kitchen my world"! I think it is a great idea. Fortunately for me, my family loves tapioca pudding. I haven't tried coconut milk and that sounds really good to try. The pudding looks a little "soupy" does it thicken up more? Tapioca pudding is wonderful warm!
ReplyDeleteThe soup thickens a little bit as it cools, but not like regular pudding. I think it gets more gelatinous - especially if you put it in the refrigerator. I think if it had all five bananas called for, instead of just the two I had, it might thicken better, but I'm not sure.
ReplyDeleteI love tapioca pudding and this one looks delicious!
ReplyDeleteOh nummy!
ReplyDeleteI really like homemade tapioca pudding, but it never occurred to me to add any flavorings other than vanilla.
You opened up a whole new world for me.