), Id like to bring us back to a much more approachable drink-snack combo: bubble tea.
What is bubble tea?
Bubble tea is a pretty flexible term, because its more about the bubbles.
Boba pearls are usually made from tapioca starch, a bit of sugar, and water.
From here you might add in flavorings or food coloring for a little pizzazz.
These ingredients form a soft dough and theyre rolled into pea-sized balls.
you’re free to make the pearls at home orbuy ready-made ones onlineor in some markets.
Toss them in a quicksimple syrupor honey, and scoop them into your chilled beverage of choice.
Its pretty straightforward from scratch, and unsurprisingly, even faster from a bag.
If youre using pre-made boba, just follow the directions on the back for boiling.
If you decide to make your own, set aside a little bit of time.
Making the dough can be pretty quick but boiling takes about 40 minutes.
(Pre-made boba pearls cook in 10-15 minutes.)
Use a machine if you have one.
Itll cut down on the mess, stash your muscles, and make for an evenly mixed dough.
Try a stand mixer with the paddle attachment or a food processor with a dough blade.
I used the latter.
Its perfect for making dough.
Only make what you need
Boba dont keep for very long after theyre cooked.
After three to six hours the texture can change and theyre not as chewy.
If theyre premade, just keep the remaining pearls in the package and store as the directions indicate.
Use the snake-and-cut method
A small amount of dough makes a lot of pearls.
Some recipes will have you measure out each dough ball, and others have you wing it.
I like the snake-and-cut method instead of using a tiny spoon to scoop the dough.
The snake and cut method works as follows.
Then I took a bench scraper and cut small nubs at even intervals (about quarter-inch intervals).
I recommend doing six or seven cuts, rounding them off with your finger tips and checking the size.
Depending on how large your pearls ended up being, you might need to adjust your cooking time.
When you think theyre finished, scoop up a few boba in a slotted spoon.
They should appear like gelatin, translucent or cloudy if you added coloring.
If theyre still white in the center, the starch inside is under-cooked.
Put them back in the hot water with the lid on for another five minutes and check again.
Simply pour either of those into a glass, add your boba, and some ice.
Tea on the other hand is comparably delicate, even black tea.
To make your bubble tea more flavorful, make your tea two or three times the strength.
Use two or three tea bags and pour hot water over them in a mug.
Steep this as directed, usually four to seven minutes.
Remove the bags and cool in the fridge.
When the tea is cold, add the syrup-coated tapioca pearls, ice, and milk if using.
Its better than a hot dog straw anyway.
This recipe makes enough tapioca dough for about four servings.
If you wont use it all, shape the dough into tapioca pearls and freeze them for later.
Lay them on a parchment lined baking sheet and put that in the freezer for about 30 minutes.
Then transfer the frozen pearls to a bag or container to store in the freezer.
Pulse a few times to mix.
It should look like moist clay, or Play-Doh.
Roll this piece into a long thing snake, or until its the thickness of a pencil.
Cut quarter-inch pieces off and shape those into balls.
Set them aside and dust them lightly with some tapioca flour so they dont stick together.
Repeat this with the rest of the dough.
Bring a medium pot of water to boil.
Put the tapioca pearls in a strainer to shake off the extra starch and drop them into the water.
Meanwhile, make the simple syrup.
Set aside to cool.
Once the 20 minutes is up, cover the pot with a lid and turn off the heat.
Let them sit and cook in the residual heat for another 15 minutes.
Strain the boba and run them under cold water for about 30 seconds.
Shake them dry and add them to the pot of simple syrup.
