Taho is a type of snack in the Philippines. It has a pudding-like texture. The toppings include a sweet brown syrup called arnibal, and sago pearls. You will often see hawkers early in the morning selling taho on the streets.
I love having taho for breakfast. When we are in Manila, we make sure to wake-up early to be able to purchase some from the “magtataho”. This is something that cannot be bought in the states, so I make one for myself and my family. The recipe below shows you how I do it. It is easier than you think.
What is Taho Made of?
The white pudding part of taho is actually tofu. It is called soft silken tofu because of its soft texture and shiny appearance. It had to be made from scratch by the magtataho in the Philippines using soy beans. It can also be bought from the supermarket in its finished form.
The brown syrup or arinibal is made of brown sugar and water. Vanilla extract can also be added to the syrup for best results.
Sago pearls comes in different sizes. My recollection of taho when I was a child is the same as the ones sold at present, except that the sago pearls are larger. These days I see that taho comes with small sago. These are the same ones that I used in my sago and gulaman recipe.
How to Make Taho at Home
Making taho in the comfort of your home is easy, at least for the pudding part. Simply purchase soft silken tofu from the supermarket and you are halfway done.
The next steps are to make the syrup and cook sago. Making the brown arnibal is just like making a simple syrup. Combine 1 part of water to 2 parts brown sugar. Let it boil and stir until well blended. You may also add vanilla extract if desired.
The last step is to assemble everything together. Put some soft silken tofu on a mug. Microwave for a minute. Top with arnibal and sago pearls.
Cooking Sago
Large sago pearls takes awhile to cook completely. I do it by boiling the sago in water for 30 minutes. Add sugar and continue to boil for another 15 to 20 minutes or until cooked all throughout.
It is best to let the pearls soak in water for a few hours or overnight. Smaller sago pearls are the opposite. These cook quicker. The key when cooking small sago has something to do with the temperature of the water. Always make sure that the water is rapidly boiling before adding these. Otherwise, the small pearls will just get diluted in water.
I published a recipe that details the steps on how to cook sago. Check it here.
Is Taho a Good Source of Protein?
The tofu in taho is high in protein. 3 ounces of it contains 5 grams of protein. It also has other nutrients.
The tofu contains essential amino acids, and a good source of calcium and iron. This article details the health benefits of taho.
Try this Taho Recipe. Let me know what you think.
Homemade Taho
Ingredients
- 22 ounces soft silken tofu
- 1 1/4 cup brown sugar
- 1/2 cup sago pearls uncooked
- 4 1/2 cups water
Instructions
- Pour 4 cups of water in a cooking pot and bring to a boil.
- Put-in the tapioca pearls and cook for 40 minutes in medium heat.
- Add 1/4 cup brown sugar and mix well.
- Turn off the heat and let the sago pearls sit on the cooking pot until room temperature is achieved. Set aside.
- Heat a saucepan then pour-in 1/2 cup of water.
- Put-in 1 cup of brown sugar once the water starts to boil. Mix well and simmer until the mixture becomes thick. Set aside.
- Transfer the extra soft tofu in a glass or mug then heat in a microwave oven for a minute.
- Top the extra soft tofu with the cooked tapioca pearls and sweet syrup.
- Serve warm. Share and Enjoy
diane says
February 21, 2010 at 4:00 amSimple and easy to prepare yet full of health benefits!
Pinky says
February 22, 2010 at 7:39 amHello!
It’s so amazing to find your cooking website. I’m so impressed. You showed it so simple and easy to prepare our favorite filipino dishes.
I was making TAHO ever since with the use of Soft Tofu when I came here to States 22 years ago. Taho is my favorite breakfast meal. I remember in the Philippines I always waited to hear “TAHO” outside the street in our house every morning and they do come back in the afternon for merienda. What I do here is just heat the soft tofu with water water and brown sugar at the same time in the microwave. Then, I have the best TAHO similar taste to the one we buy in the Philippines. I will try your procedure.
I want to let you know that I truly enjoy watching all your cooking and it’s really great!
JU says
February 24, 2010 at 11:08 amI love your style of cooking..I just made beef steak yesterday and my husband loved!!keep up the good work!!
XiaoYen says
February 24, 2010 at 6:37 pmI love, absolutely love Asian desserts. My Filipino coworkers would make all these delicious desserts for our potlucks and parties. This is a very simple recipe. I love tofu too!
Vanessa says
February 25, 2010 at 12:17 amI tried this yesterday but had to redo the tapioca pearls & follow the cooking directions on the packaging. Then everything was perfect, tastes better than store bought. Thanks for the recipe!
Can u post more veggie recipes please? Tnx again.
hayyanah says
February 27, 2010 at 12:10 amHi Kuya,
i was just telling to my friend that i am missing this Taho here in Middle east and just found out that its not kind of hard thing to do it. Thanks for posting this !!! Godbless and more power for your food recipes & advice more to come!!!
~KATE~ says
August 8, 2010 at 8:46 pmhello!!! i am your new follower. ^^,
Kristine says
August 17, 2010 at 8:24 pmHi, I can’t thank you enough for sharing your taho recipe. I am so happy to find out how easy it is to prepare my favorite taho. My cousin and I were just searching online to find out where we can find taho here in Florida, thank goodness we I came across your site. We haven’t had taho in like ages!! Thank you so much, really appreciate it!! Your recipes are so helpful, more power to you and your show.
bubbles says
January 14, 2011 at 9:53 amomgooodneeessss.. thank you so so much! I am so gonna try this!!!!
malou says
February 6, 2011 at 4:04 pmi recently found/subscribed to your website. and for the last 2 weeks, i made the following for the very 1st time--thanks to your wonderful and easy to follow video instructions.
i made your taho recipe last night. this is so good and so simple to make. i used the mini tapioca pearls instead of the regular sized ones (quicker to cook/make).
i also made your polvoron recipe last week for my family. they loved it—and wants to me make more! i won’t probably wrapped them as they go so fast!
i also made the bananaque last night. my husband loved it! i think this will be a regular merienda food on the weekends.
the next one i want to try is the pastillas de leche. i found powdered goat milk—do you think this can work too?
thank you so much for sharing!
Bea Jenesa says
April 6, 2011 at 11:03 amHi! so i live in Saskatoon, Canada, where do you think can I buy extra soft tofu and tapioca pearls? My mom said theres no soft tofu @ walmart.
Fatimah Araneta says
July 26, 2011 at 12:49 pmI’ve just read your recipe for home made taho. I can’t wait to try it out! But please tell me what I can do if I don’t have a microwave oven to heat the extra soft tofu for a minute? What can I do instead? Is this step absolutely necessary?
Thanks in advance for your reply!
JC says
July 30, 2011 at 5:27 pmTried this. Wonderful!!! I haven’t had Taho in 7 years. Wow. Love it! Thank you for sharing!
hello says
November 22, 2011 at 9:56 amthnks for the recipe.
Davao Food Tripper says
December 1, 2011 at 12:07 amWould like to try making this one at home. But since I cannot make one for now. I would go out and buy taho for snacks.
BhABY_V says
January 7, 2012 at 8:22 amcan u still make taho if u dont have extra soft tofu?!
Sandy says
January 24, 2012 at 5:34 pmInstead of microwaving the tofu, could I steam it instead?
Ida says
January 29, 2012 at 12:17 pmI love your website! Whenever i miss Pinoy food, I’ll immediately look into your site for recipes and I’m getting great feedbacks regarding my cooking skills…if they only knew! My friends and my husband enjoyed trying our food. I’m currently pregnant with my first child and one of the things I love to take for breakfast when I had my vacation in Manila was taho. Since I came back, I was missing it so much. Thank God, I found your recipe here. Thank you and keep on sharing more recipes!
Elaine says
January 31, 2012 at 4:51 amThanks for this recipe. I have been wanting to eat this for so long. I was lucky enough to have found soy pudding here where I’m staying. So it’s pretty much like the real thing and smells like it too.
Diana Trinidad says
March 1, 2012 at 4:26 ami love u kuya, lol…. thank you sooooooooooo much….
LF says
March 22, 2015 at 9:18 amThank u for this! It really is taho!
I added molases to the syrup it makes it taste more like our taho street food. 🙂
Erika says
April 8, 2015 at 5:33 pmOh really, how much should you add? Thanks 🙂
Kez says
August 19, 2018 at 5:41 pmThe recipe made making taho so easy! This was really delicious. I saw a website copied this too without giving credit, just fyi. If you want to check it out its balay.ph
Vanjo Merano says
August 20, 2018 at 10:49 amHi Kez, thanks for the feedback. I’m glad that you liked it. Thanks also for letting me know about the copyright issue. Will act on it.