Sago

Brown Sugar Nata Cubes & Sago Balls in Bowl with Alaska Evaporated Milk. Photo by Toyang Noresa.

In English, sago (pronounced “say-goh”) refers to a palm from which starch is extracted. In the Philippines, when you say sagó (“sah-go”) the first thing that springs to mind is something that looks like the tapioca pearls used in boba drinks in the United States.

Sago and tapioca are two different plants from which starch is extracted. Sago starch and tapioca starch are processed commercially into “pearls,” which are small balls about two millimeters in diameter. Uncooked, they are opaque, but after soaking and cooking, they become larger, translucent, soft and spongy.

The swamp sago plant has the scientific name Metroxylon sagu. Sagó is the powdery starch from the trunks of sago palms.