Am I the only Filipino outside of the Philippines craving a good sago at gulaman?  I would think  not.

The bubble teas that are on every Vietnamese Pho noodle restaurant menus just do not cut it.  I want a glass of  simple sweet, amber-colored liquid with tapioca balls in the bottom and gelatin flakes floating on top.

The ingredients are basically sago (tapioca pearls or balls- however you may refer to it), gulaman (gelatin- usually of a harder consistency than jell-o), water, sugar syrup and flavorings.

To have good sago, you’d have to know what you are doing.  I have never been able to make good, let alone perfect, tapioca pearls from scratch.  Either the whole lot has formed into one sticky, gelatinous glob or they still would have uncooked centers.  I’ve given up on them.  My mom has never made them from scratch at home.  We usually just enjoy the drink from restaurants or street vendors or she just buys them already made from the wet market.

To have good gulaman, well, that is not so hard.  I’m just too lazy to make them.

Then, you’d need to make the syrup.  Again, this is something that could be difficult to accomplish.  Most of the time, I wound up with crystals in the saucepan or hard caramel.  I will leave the art of syrup making to the French pastry chefs.

Here is my quick and easy way.

Go to your favorite Asian market and find a good jelly drink.  I tried a few to find the taste that closely resembled what I remembered as the taste of the best sago at gulaman.  I found the Taisun brand of Grass Jelly Drink Banana Flavor to be my favorite. This brand is also available in Coconut and Lychee flavors.

At the same Asian market, look for Tapioca Pearls that have already been pre-cooked.  I found this brand, WuFuYuan Tapioca Pearl works pretty well.  The package came with instructions in the back.  Follow them as best you can.  Whoever wrote these instructions need a few more years of English language classes. (I know, I could use a few, too…)

Once the Tapioca Pearls are done, put as much as you want in a glass, add an ice-cold can of your favorite Jelly drink and voila! a close-to-perfect sago at gulaman!  Now, close your eyes, take a drink and tranport yourself to some sweet memories of hot summer days…. Enjoy!