Mango Pudding

My mom doesn’t like dessert. Growing up, my mom only has made 3 kind of desserts (mango pudding, watermelon popsicle, and bird’s nest soup). My favorite has to be the mango pudding! If you have been to a Chinese dim sum restaurant, you may have seen mango pudding in carts. It is one of the popular desserts in Hong Kong. But of course, the restaurant ones only have a little bit of mangoes. My mom’s version is filled with mangoes. It is just delightful!

If you are not sure what the texture of this pudding is, think panna cotta or creamy jello. This is definitely not banana pudding or bread pudding kind of pudding. In this recipe, I used the mango flavor jelly powder. I got this from Hong Kong. I have no idea where I can find the same in the US. It looks like JELL-O have this product at some point, but I don’t think they can be found in stores now. I found them at amazon.com. I haven’t tried them yet, but I will try them one day. They should taste very similar to the one from Hong Kong.

Mango Pudding

About 4 cups of pudding

Ingredients:

–   3 ripe Carabao/Manila mangoes

–   1 (90-gram) package mango flavor jelly powder

–   1 ½ cup cold water

–   1/2 cup boiling water

–   6 tablespoons evaporated milk

Directions:

1. For the mangoes, wash them under water and dry them with paper towels. To cut the mangoes into little cubes, hold one mango with one hand and stand it on its end. With a sharp knife in the other hand, cut from the top of the mango, down one side of the pit. Repeat with the other side. Now, you have three pieces (two halves and the pit). Lay one half of mango on the table with the flesh facing up, use a knife to make ½-inch lengthwise and ½-inch crosswise cuts in it, but try not to cut through the peel. Hold that mango in hand, use a spoon to separate the flesh and peel. The mango cubes should be scooped out easily. Repeat with the rest of the mangoes.
2. Prepare 4 cups of 1-cup container or 8 cups of ½-cup container. Set aside.
3. In a large heatproof bowl, add the jelly powder. Pour the boiling water over, and mix with a spatula gently. Stir until all the powder is melted. Add the cold water. Mix well. Stir in the mango cubes and evaporated milk. Transfer the mixture to the prepared cups. Chill the pudding in the fridge for at least 3 hours before serving. It can be stored in the fridge for up to 3 days.

Tips:

1. Carabao mango is my favorite mango. Sweet, juicy and soft. But the US doesn’t import those. The only similar mango that I can get is Manila mango. It is not the same, but oh well.
2. The amount of evaporated milk is depends on your personal taste. I like my pudding to be on the light side, so I only added 6 tablespoons. You can add up to 10 tablespoons.

Where to buy mango jelly powder? Read