Sago pudding

As a child, I'd often help my mother to make this recipe. However, I've forgotten the recipe, which made it very traumatic for me because I so desperately wanted to recreate that taste and thus those feelings of home, mother, and a secure childhood.

I did try it once in recent times and it turned out to be a stodgey mess. Until I came across these tips, that is: https://www.theburningkitchen.com/how-not-to-cook-sago-3-common-mistakes-people-make/

So here's my redo of this childhood favourite adapted for my pots and requirements.

Ingredients
250g small sago pearls
large pot of boiling water
300g (1 block) of gula melaka, shaved and and made into a syrup
1 can of coconut milk (use fresh if you have it!)
7 to 10 pandan leaves.
Pinch of salt

Method
1. Following the tips from Burning Kitchen, bring a pot of water to a boil. Knot the pandan leaves and boil for 10 minutes until the fragrance emerges.
2. Pour in the sago pearls (do not soak nor wash beforehand!). Stir and keep stirring. Turn down the heat to medium and leave to simmer for 12 minutes, with lid slightly ajar.
3. The centre will still have a tiny dot of white. Turn off the flame and cover. Leave to steep for 20 minutes. The residual heat will continue to cook until the tiny dot of white turns clear.
4. Strain in a strainer and rinse in tap water until the sago is no longer hot.
5. Spoon into a mould where it coagulates into a pudding. Leave to cool until no longer hot and chill in the fridge.
6. Serve with gula mela syrup (cooked with pandan leaf) and coconut milk which has a pinch of salt added.