Thai Coconut Tapioca Pudding with Banana Recipe
Thai coconut tapioca pudding with banana is a delicate, creamy dessert that in Thailand is often served warm in the evening. Its texture is similar to classic pudding, but with characteristic translucent tapioca pearls and a coconut aroma. It’s a simple way to feel like you’re at a Thai night market without leaving your kitchen.
In Thailand, warm desserts with tapioca and coconut milk are sold from big steaming pots at night markets, often with banana, taro, or pumpkin added.
This dessert combines Thai tapioca and coconut with a more familiar, pudding‑like character, so it feels exotic yet intuitive to eat. Vanilla and fresh mint gently bring the flavor closer to European desserts, making it an easy first introduction to Thai sweets.
Why this version works
- Combining coconut milk with regular milk gives full flavor but a lighter texture.
- Pre‑cooking the tapioca in plain water prevents it from turning into a dense, gluey lump.
- Briefly heated bananas are soft and fragrant but don’t completely fall apart.
- Toasted coconut flakes add crunch and intensify the coconut aroma.
Chef's tips
The biggest challenge is tapioca sticking to the pan – never leave it without stirring, especially once the mixture starts to thicken. Watch the pearls: when they are almost completely translucent with just a tiny white dot in the center, take them off the heat and let them finish cooking covered. If the dessert becomes too thick after chilling and “stands” on the spoon, add milk a tablespoon at a time, stirring thoroughly, until it’s silky and pourable again.
How to serve
On cold evenings, serve the dessert warm in small bowls, with extra banana and a pinch of salt on top for contrast. In summer, chill it well and serve in glasses with ice cubes and thin slices of lime; it pairs beautifully with unsweetened green or jasmine tea.
Watch out for
- Don’t let the coconut milk come to a rolling boil, or it may separate and lose its silky texture.
- Cooking tapioca over too high a heat encourages burning and leaves the centers of the pearls hard.
- Cooking the bananas for too long will make them disintegrate and turn the dessert pasty.
Substitutions
- Replace cow’s milk with any plant milk, such as oat or almond, for a vegan version.
- You can swap the bananas for mango or ripe pear, adding them in the same way at the end of cooking.
- Substitute white sugar with cane or coconut sugar to boost the caramel notes.
Ingredients
- small tapioca pearls - 80 g
- water - 500 ml
- coconut milk kokosowe z puszki - 400 ml
- cow’s milk or plant-based milk - 200 ml
- sugar - 4 tablespoons
- salt - 0.25 teaspoons
- bananas - 2 pieces
- vanilla extract - 0.5 teaspoons
- desiccated coconut - 2 tablespoons
- mint leaves - 4 pieces
Preparation
- Put the tapioca pearls into a saucepan and cover with water. Bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring from time to time so they don’t stick to the bottom.
- When the water starts to boil, reduce the heat to low and cook for 15–20 minutes, stirring every few minutes. The pearls should become mostly translucent with a small white dot in the center.
- Remove the saucepan from the heat, cover and set aside for 5 minutes. Then drain the tapioca in a sieve and briefly rinse with cold water to remove excess starch.
- In a clean saucepan, combine the coconut milk, cow’s or plant-based milk, sugar, salt and vanilla extract (if using). Heat over medium heat, stirring, until the sugar dissolves and the liquid is hot but not boiling.
- Add the cooked tapioca to the saucepan with the coconut milk. Cook over low heat for 5–7 minutes, stirring often, until the dessert thickens slightly. The mixture should be pourable but clearly thicker than milk.
- Add the banana slices and gently stir. Cook for another 1–2 minutes, just until the bananas are slightly warmed through.
- Taste and, if needed, add more sugar or a pinch of salt.
- Transfer the dessert to bowls. You can serve it warm or chill it in the fridge for at least 1 hour if you prefer a cold pudding.
- Before serving, sprinkle the top with desiccated coconut toasted in a dry pan and garnish with a mint leaf.
Storage
No storage information available for this dish.
I like this dessert best when the tapioca is still slightly warm and the banana is almost falling apart – that’s when it really takes me back to the night markets in Chiang Mai and the little cups bought straight from a steaming pot.
