← Nouns Cooking · Indonesian & Filipino

Ingredients

• 1 Gulaman bar (about 25 g) or 7 g agar powder
• 750 ml Water
• 75 g small or medium tapioca pearls
• 1.5 l Water
• 200 g Brown sugar
• 250 ml Water
• 2 pandan leaves, knotted (optional)
• 1 tsp vanilla or a few drops of banana essence (optional)
• 1 l cold water
• 720 ml ice cubes

Method

1. Shred the gulaman bar into the 750 ml water and soak for 10 min. Bring to the boil and stir for 5 min until completely dissolved. Pour into a shallow tray, cool, then chill for 1 hour until firm and cut into 1 cm cubes.
2. Bring the 1.5 l water to the boil, add the tapioca pearls and boil for 15–20 min, stirring often, until mostly clear. Turn off the heat, cover and leave for 10 min, then rinse under cold water.
3. For the syrup, simmer the brown sugar, water and pandan (if using) for 5–6 min until slightly syrupy. Stir in the vanilla and let it cool.
4. Mix the syrup with the cold water in a jug, tasting and adding more water if it is too sweet. Add the sago and gulaman, then serve over plenty of ice.

Tips

• Gulaman is seaweed-based agar, so this drink is vegan; some recipes use gelatine instead, which is not.
• If using agar powder, whisk it into cold water before boiling, or it will form lumps.

Sources

Written in our own words after cross-checking these recipes:

Foxy Folksy Kawaling Pinoy