Kuih Sago

Kuih Sagu is one of my eldest son's favorite sweets. He has been asking me to make this for him for quite some time now. He said that he did not get the chance to buy this kuih when we went back home for the summer holidays. So I decided to make this for him yesterday. The pictures are without the freshly grated coconut coating.

Ruby Red Kuih Sago

Ingredients

1 cup of sagu
2-2/12 cups of sugar
2 1/2 cups water
a pinch of salt
a drop of red food coloring
1 teaspoon of rose essence

some freshly grated coconut steamed with a pinch of salt.

Directions

1. Grease a square cake tin with a little bit of cooking oil. I used a 6" X 6" cake tin
2. Wash and soak the sago in water for about 10 minutes. This helps to remove any excess starch in the sago.
3. Drain the sago in a fine colander.
4. In a pan heat the water and sugar together on medium-low heat. When the syrup starts to boil add the red coloring and the rose essence. Mix well before adding the soaked and drained sago into the boiling syrup.
5. Stir well until the sago turns translucent. There will be some sago that is still white and not cooked but this is OK. Keep stirring until most of the sago is translucent.
6. Pour the cooked sago into the cake tin and level the surface.
7. When the sago is cool, you can  cut into squares and roll them in the steamed coconut before serving.

Note:
1. It is usually quite difficult to cut and maintain the shape of the sagu so it looks better when the sago is rolled in grated coconut.
2. If you want a softer kuih you can use 3 cups of water instead of 2 1/2 cups of water.