Sago't Gulaman Recipe (Refreshing Filipino Sago Drink)

🤷‍♀️ What is gulaman?

In Filipino cooking, gulaman is the name given to thick jelly made from agar or carrageenan extracted from seaweed.  Both of these sea veggies are polysaccharides (complex carbohydrates), which (don’t freak out) is why they are used as a jelling agent for making stuff like petri dishes and slants in science labs.

Anyway, I know I’m not helping the case that these are appetizing ingredients, but trust me they are super useful! Agar agar is used for tons of Southeast Asian desserts, like the Philippine’s famous buko pandan, and che ba mau from Vietnam. I also rely on the stuff to get the perfect consistency for my vegan creme brûlée and coconut panna cotta. See? I told ya. Those things are way yummier than petri dishes and whatnot.

Agar is sold in bars, flakes or powder form. If at all possible, get agar agar powder, as it is the easiest to accurately measure. It also dissolves more easily than other forms, preventing you from ending up with specs of gelatinous boogers throughout whatever you are making, which will probably make you mad, sad, and 100% not glad.

Gulaman has been a staple in Filipino cooking for centuries, with mentions dating back to the 1754 "Vocabulario de la lengua tagala." Gulaman powder is distinct from gelatin, as gulaman is plant-based, making it both vegan and kosher. Unlike gelatin, gulaman sets at room temperature and does not melt easily, making it a versatile ingredient in tropical climates.

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🥰Why you'll adore this recipe

✊ Vegan AF & GF: Like all of my vegan Filipino recipes, this ice cold drinky-drink doesn’t harm a single living critter. Oh, and shocker: this is one of the gluten-free vegan recipes you can make for just about anyone and have them be 200% psyched.

🌱 Perfect Gulaman Texture: This recipe is perfectly dialed in for the jellies to be the best you have ever had. If you have ever had gulaman made with too much agar in them, you will know it’s a terrible culinary crime, and the person who made them should be put into an offshore kitchen prison where their desserts can’t harm the public ever again. But you? You will not be in such a prison because you found this recipe. So there’s that. 

⏲️ Quick and Easy: This recipe comes together in under thirty minutes, making it perfies for cooling your steamy self down before you start to scream.

✅ Tested and Approved Worldwide: Like all the vegan recipes I share, after tweaking and perfecting it, I shared it with a truly massive team of recipe testers who replicated it successfully all around the world. Enjoy a tried-and-true fave that my tester think is super friggin’ good!

Sugar

I like to use natural dark brown sugar of some kind for making sago’t gulaman, especially the arnibal syrup. My top choice, palm sugar, known as "gula melaka" in Southeast Asia, is also great for making biji salak and the filling for ondeh ondeh. Otherwise, if that’s tricky to get, coconut sugar, or regular ol’ brown sugar will work great in this recipe too.

Agar Agar 

Agar agar powder is a fantastic plant-based alternative the gelatin, which is made from seaweed and is a popular ingredient in Asian desserts. It's produced by boiling and drying red algae, producing a mostly tasteless and odorless gelatin substitute. If agar agar powder is not available, you can substitute it with agar agar flakes or Irish moss, but be very thorough in dissolving those to give your jellies a similar texture.

Ube Extract (Optional)

I lu-lu-luhrve the flavor of ube, which is why I even like to glaze my karioka (Filipino mochi donuts) with the darned stuff.  You don’t HAVE to use ube in this recipe at all, but I like dividing my gulaman while it’s still liquid and giving half of it the flavor and pretty color of purple yam. Can’t find it, or hate ube with all your heart? Just make all of the gulaman pandan flavored instead. No biggy.

Grass Jelly (Optional)

Grass jelly, also known as "cincau" in Southeast Asia, is an herbal jelly made from the leaves of the Mesona plant. It's slightly bitter, maybe a little bit “swampy” tasting, so don’t eat it plain.  Trust me, on it’s own- it sucks. But when its mild, earthy taste gets doused in the sweet arnibal syrup, the fun texture is a great addition to this dessert.

📖 How to make it

Nail this frosty filipino drink on your first shot by following these step-by-step photos with helpful tips. Or scroll down to the bottom of this page for the easy-to-print recipe card.

Step One

My Pearls, my Precious Pearls!
Bring 12 cups of water to a boil over high heat. Once the water is boiling, Add the sago or tapioca pearls, stirring occasionally to keep them from sticking.

Reduce the heat to medium and simmer for twenty minutes. Turn off the heat, cover the pot, and let the pearls sit for ten minutes. Drain and rinse the pearls in a wire mesh strainer under cold water, then set aside.

✅ If you are using tapioca or sago pearls that are not medium size, follow the instructions on your pancakes to get them cooked perfectly. 

Step Two

Jelly Garcia:
Using a whisk, mix together two cups of water, palm sugar, agar-agar powder, and salt in a separate pot. Bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring frequently, just until it comes to a boil and the sugar and agar-agar dissolve.

Step Three

Divide and Conquer:

Divide the mixture into two bowls. Add pandan extract (or buko pandan flavor) to one bowl and ube extract to the other. Allow the mixtures to cool slightly, then refrigerate until firm.

✅If you are in a hurry, this will set up faster in the freezer. 

✅ You don’t have to divide and flavor the gulaman in two different ways. If you are just using one extract, you can mix it right into the gulaman in the pot and then chill it just like that.

Step Four

Cube Libre:
Once the gulaman jelly has chilled and become firm, cut it into small cubes and set aside.

Step Five

Syrup Up and Away!
Bring 3 cups of water and pandan leaves to a boil over medium heat. Add palm sugar and vanilla extract, stirring until completely dissolved. 

Step Six

Go Away, Grass:

Once the pot has come to a boil, remove from heat and discard the pandan leaves. Let the syrup cool to room temperature.

✅When you remove the pandan leaves, make sure to squeeze as much arnibal syrup out of them as possible.  The juice that’s all up in the leaves will be the most flavorful of all.

Step Seven

Assemble the Glorious Drinky:
Place some ice at the bottom of each tall glass. Layer the sago or tapioca pearls over the ice. Add chopped grass jelly if desired. Pour the cooled brown sugar syrup over the pearls, then top with more ice. Add the pandan and ube jelly cubes. Serve immediately, cold enough to chill your entire brain.