chinese creamy coconut jelly/pudding recipe

My Viet mother use to these coconut jellies with agar agar. As I recall, she used the agar agar that came in long strands that look like plastic gift wrapping twine. Unfortunately like a lot of great cooks, she didn’t measure out anything. Just cooked by feel and experience. I just remember her dissolving the agar agar (~10-20strands) in a pot of hot water, sweetened it to taste with sugar and added a little bit of full fat coconut milk from a can. If we had any, she would also add a few drops of pandas or banana extract. Then the jelly mixture was poured into molds or cups. A few drops of food color was addedwhener she wanted it to look pretty (usually red or green). Sometimes she would make coffee jelly. I always preferred that over Jello because the texture was firmer.

I think what you are after is a recipe for what is commonly called almond or tofu jelly. It's a pretty iconic snack/dessert in most of the Oriental countries, from Thailand, China, Korea, to Japan. It's most always thickened and set with agar powder or strips, but you can use gelatin as well. The creamy versions can be made with regular milk, soy milk, almond milk, or just about any of the non-dairy milks you'd prefer. I don't have a specific recipe to offer, but a quick web search looking for an almond or tofu jelly recipe should yield a bounty to choose from. Clear or at least non-creamy versions can be made using fruit juice as well, and in mango, lychee, and strawberry flavor, even pineapple if you use canned juice. The little cups are just their version of our similar shelf stable jello cups, and popular with kids as lunch treats. If you can find an oriental food store nearby, they often have the package mixes for sale to make it, as well as the agar powder to make your own. If you do make your own, you can mold it just like you would regular jello, or in a larger pan and cut into shapes. It's not shelf stable, of course- but probably better for you.