Taiwanese Bubble / Booba / Pearl Tea

by Frank Tiu • featured in Delicious Asian Drinks

 

 

Ingredients

for 2 servings

Black Tea

• 2 cups water (480 g)
• 6 black tea bags

Tapioca Pearls and Brown Sugar Syrup

• ½ cup medium black tapioca pearls (50 g)
• 2 cups brown sugar (440 g)
• 1 cup hot water (240 mL)

Assembly

• ½ cup tapioca pearls, cooked (50 g)
• ½ cup ice (30 g)
• brown sugar syrup, to taste
• 1 cup black tea, chilled (240 mL)
• ¼ cup half & half (60 mL)

Special Equipment

• 2 wide-opening straws

Preparation

1. In a medium pot over high heat, combine the water and tea bags. Bring to a boil, then remove the pan from the heat and let the tea cool to room temperature.
2. Bring a medium pot of water to boil over high heat. Once the water is boiling, add the tapioca pearls and boil until softened, about 20 minutes.
3. Drain the pearls through a strainer.
4. Set the strainer with the pearls over a medium bowl. Add the brown sugar to the strainer and pour the hot water over.
5. Stir to dissolve the brown sugar. Soak the pearls in brown sugar syrup for 30 minutes, then store the bubbles and syrup separately until ready to serve.
6. Assemble the tea: Divide the pearls and ice between 2 glasses, then add the brown sugar syrup, tea, and half and half.
7. Stir with a wide-opening straw, then serve.
8. Enjoy!

 

 Comments / Suggestions

I’ve made this about 100 times, it’s AMAZING. One thing is to follow the directions that are provided on the bag of tapioca bubbles you buy (mine said to boil for 2-3 minutes, simmer for 2-3 minutes or more then cool in cold water for 20 seconds) but I would still soak them in the brown sugar syrup (unless you like the boiled water taste..)

 

al2003

i’m taiwanese and here are a few tricks i’ve picked up: 

1. steep the tea as long as possible to ensure it isn’t watery, especially if you’re making big batches 

2. follow the instructions on your boba packaging because different brands make their product differently 

3. use WHOLE MILK for the milk!! it makes a big difference!

Ana Munson

When making the boba (or the bubbles) let them soak in honey and sugar. It makes them taste 10x better than plain boba.

ramune

I tend to make this with milk instead of half and half, which is especially useful if you don’t like cream or you want slightly less calories in your drink. It’s delicious!

https://tasty.co/recipe/taiwanese-bubble-tea 

How to Make Bubble Tea (Boba Tea, 珍珠奶茶)

Want to learn how to create that rich and silky bubble tea the proper Asian street vendor style? Here is how.

Prep Time10 mins

Cook Time10 mins

Course: Drink

Cuisine: Chinese

Servings: 4 drinks

Author: Maggie Zhu

Ingredients

Tapioca pearls

• 1 cup dried black tapioca pearls regular or instant (*Footnote 1)
• 4 tablespoons (40 grams) loose leaf black tea (or 8 black tea bags)
• 2 tablespoons Domino® Quick Dissolve Superfine Sugar

Drink

• 1 cup heavy cream (or 4 cups milk, or plant-based milk for a vegetarian drink)
• 4 tablespoons Domino® Quick Dissolve Superfine Sugar (or to taste)
• Ice cubes for a cold drink (Optional)

Instructions

• To prepare tapioca pearls - the regular type
• Add 8 cups water to a small pot and bring to a boil. Add tapioca pearls and stir gently until they float to the top. Cook over medium heat for 15 minutes, until the tapioca pearls turn tender throughout, but still a bit chewy in texture. Remove the pan from the stove, cover, and let rest for 15 minutes. Drain tapioca and transfer to a small bowl.
• Add sugar and 1/4 cup water. Mix well with a spoon. Marinate at room temperature for 15 to 30 minutes.
• You can use the tapioca pearls now, or store them in the fridge until ready to use. They will taste the best when fresh, but you can store them for a couple days. Their texture will become chewier the longer you let them sit.
• To prepare tapioca pearls—the instant type
• Add 8 cups water to a small pot and bring to a boil. Add tapioca pearls and stir gently until they float to the top. Cook covered over medium heat for 2 minutes. Removed the pan from the stove and let steam covered, for another 2 to 3 minutes, until the tapioca pearls turns tender throughout, but still a bit chewy in texture. Drain the tapioca pearls with a sieve and run under tap water for a few seconds, to stop cooking. Drain again and transfer to a small bowl.
• Add sugar and 1/4 cup water. Mix well with a spoon.
• You can use the tapioca pearls now, or place them in room temperature for half a day, until ready to use.
• Prepare bubble tea
• Add 6 cups water to a small pot and bring to a boil. Add black tea and simmer uncovered over medium-low heat for 5 minutes. Stop heat and let the tea steep, covered, for another 5 minutes. Strain tea with a very fine colander or coffee filter (or remove the tea bags).
• Add the tapioca pearls into each glass. Pour in 1 1/2 of the black tea and 1/4 cup heavy cream (or 1 cup milk). Add 1 tablespoon sugar or to taste, mix well.
• Serve the drink hot, at room temperature, or add ice cubes to serve it cold.

Notes

1. Like I mentioned in the blog post, instant tapioca pearls are easy to cook and they taste the best when served fresh. However, if you want to prepare them at least a day ahead, use the regular type instead, or they will turn too chewy when you’re ready to serve.

 
 https://omnivorescookbook.com/bubble-tea/
 

Boba, aka. Tapioca Pearls, From Scratch

Making boba from scratch for homemade bubble tea is quick and easy. Fresh boba are so much better than dried tapioca pearls found in stores.

Course Beverages, DIY Pantry Foods

Cuisine Asian

Special Diet DF, GF, Paleo, Vegan

Prep Time 20 minutes

Cook Time 10 minutes

Total Time 30 minutes

Servings 6 servings (around 1/4 cup)

Calories 66kcal

Ingredients

• 1 cup tapioca starch
• 1/2 cup boiling water

Instructions

• Boil the water.
• Add the tapioca starch to a bowl, followed by the boiling water. I work the water in little by little in case it isn't all needed. Kneading with your hands is the best way to incorporate the water and make a non-sticky dough. Be careful not to burn yourself, though.
• Once you have a workable dough, the easiest way to make tapioca pearls is to roll the dough into long snakes of dough, cut them into small pieces and roll them into tiny balls.
• To cook your homemade boba, boil at least twice as much water as the volume of tapioca pearls that you are going to cook.
• Add your homemade boba to the boiling water. The boba should float to the top. When that happens, turn the heat down to medium
• You'll notice that the boba begin to cook and get their chewy texture almost immediately. At any point after a couple of minutes, you can use the boba and they will be better than the dehydrated store bought pearls. I later found, though, that if you keep simmering until they fall back to the bottom of the pan, and then remove them, they will be more transparent once removed and allowed to steep in honey for a few minutes. (They will still be pretty opaque when you remove them from the water, but they start to become translucent once removed from the boiling water and stored in honey.)
• Remove the boba from hot water with a slotted spoon, and transfer them to a bowl with some honey. The honey will help preserve them until you are ready to use them, slightly sweeten them, and keep them from sticking to each other.
• Add them to your tea! I've found that they have the best texture when warm, so if you want cold bubble tea, it's best to add them first to your glass while they are warm, and pour the cold tea over top, serving immediately!
• Enjoy!

Nutrition

Calories: 66kcal | Carbohydrates: 17g | Iron: 0.2mg

Recipe printed from Oh, The Things We'll Make! Blog. https://thethingswellmake.com/how-to-make-boba-tapioca-pearls-from-scratch/