How to make Thai Mango Coconut Jelly with Agar Agar (Woon Mamuang)
I am not vegan anymore, so I do not usually look for recipes that do not have include animal products in the ingredients. But recently, I came across a Thai dessert recipe from Pailin from the Hot Thai Kitchen YouTube channel that is vegetarian and vegan, looks beautiful and is absolutely delicious. It is also the perfect dessert for summer, as it is so refreshing.
The recipe is for a Thai dessert called Mango Coconut Jelly, (known as Woon Mamuang in Thailand), and it is a dessert made with the vegan gelatin substitute agar, also known as agar-agar.
Agar-agar is used in a lot of dishes throughout Asia, including Thailand so, even if you didn’t know it, you have probably eaten it in a dish at one time or another.
Now, I have eaten hundreds of desserts similar to this one in my 16 years living in Thailand, but this Mango Coconut Jelly is one of the best Thai jelly-style desserts I have ever eaten. It is so simple to make as well.
Ingredients
For the mango layer
2 sweet, ripe mangoes — cubed and then pureed
1 mango cut into small cubes.
1/2 cup of orange juice.
1 1/4 cups of water
2 teaspoons of Agar Agar
1/3 cup of sugar
Lime juice (I didn’t have lime, so I used lemon, and it worked just as well).
For the coconut layer
1 teaspoon of Agar Agar
2/3 cup of water
4 tablespoons of sugar
2/3 cup of coconut milk
1/8 of a teaspoon of salt
How to make Thai Mango Coconut Jelly
- Put the 250 grams of cubed, ripe mango into a blender. Add the orange juice and blend together until the mixture is very smooth.
- Pour 1 1/4 cups of cold water into a pan and add the Agar Agar. Stir it and bring the water to a boil, continuing to stir until it boils.
- Add the sugar to the mixture of water and Agar Agar, and bring it back to a boil. The goal here is to make sure the sugar has dissolved.
- Pour the mango and orange juice mixture into the water, and mix it quickly with a whisk so that all the mango mixture is mixed in.
- Taste the mixture, and if it seems too sweet, add a squeeze or two of lime (or lemon) juice to add a little more acid and then whisk again.
- Pour the mango mixture into a square glass dish, small dessert dishes or even shot glasses. It is really up to you how you plan on serving the finished dessert. Just remember, if you pour it into a square glass dish, you will have to cut it into pieces before serving.
- Put the mango cubes into the base (or cubes of any other fruit you like), making sure you push them down into the mixture so they do not stay floating on top.
- Leave the mixture to set at room temperature.
- While the mango jelly is setting, it is time to make the coconut layer.
- Pour the water into a saucepan, stir in the Agar Agar and bring the mixture to a boil.
- Add the sugar and the salt, and mix well while the mixture is still on the boil.
- Add the coconut milk, whisking everything together well.
- Once it is whisked well, you can take it off the heat, and slowly pour it over the now-set mango mixture.
- Put the completed Thai Mango Coconut Jelly into the refrigerator, and let it to cool for an hour or two.
- Remove from the fridge, cut it into squares if it is in a square glass bowl, and serve.
Now watch how Pailin makes her Mango Coconut Jelly in her video below. It really could not be more simple and, as Pailin shows, it looks beautiful when you serve it, and it tastes even better.
Also don’t forget to watch her many other Thai food videos, and subscribe to her YouTube channel.
She is a professional chef, uploads videos at least once a week, and honestly makes some of the best Thai food you will ever eat. She also explains how to cook things incredibly well, so you are never confused or give up halfway through because it just seems too difficult.