Bubble Tea
Making your own boba (tapioca pearls) for bubble tea is not difficult. But it does take a bit of time. The good part about making boba at home is that you can control the added sugar - or just skip it completely and still get the same mouth feel. And they are totally gluten and dairy free! Try adding these homemade boba to your next summer drink!
Servings: 2
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup tapioca starch (or buy prepared uncooked tapioca pearls - see notes below)
- 2-4 tbsp hot water
- 3 cups water (divided - 2 cups for boba, 1 cup for the sugar syrup)
- 3 tbsp brown sugar (skip this if Whole30, or use maple syrup to keep it Paleo)
- 3 cups drink of choice (I like it with sweet iced tea, fresh fruit juice or added to smoothies)
Instructions
- Place a medium sized pot of water to boil - you need about 2-3 cups of water so the boba have lots of water to move around when boiling in there.
- While the water heats up, place the tapioca starch in a small bowl and add the warm water a tbsp at a time and stir till it starts to combine. You may need to add more or less water depending on the batch.
- Be careful not to add too much water as that will turn the dough into a quicksand like consistency and make it harder to form little balls. Lots of fun to play with, not so great to cook!
- Dump the dough out onto a clean non-stick surface (like a silpat mat) and start kneading the dough with your hands for about 5 mins. It should come together and feel like playdough.
- Start breaking off small pieces of dough about the size of a pearl and rolling in your hands. Remember the pearls will double in size when boiled, so keep that in mind when deciding how big you want your boba.
- Once all your dough is rolled into pearls, drop the pearls carefully into the boiling water and let it simmer on medium heat for at least 20 mins to reach your desired consistency.
- Depending on how large your pearls are it may take anywhere from 20 to 30 mins to get them to the right consistency. I like my boba to be soft but have a tiny bit of 'chew' when I bite into them. So I found that it took about 20 mins for my batch to be perfect.
- While the boba simmer, in a separate saucepan boil the remaining 1 cup of water and brown sugar till the sugar has dissolved. Turn off the heat.
- When the boba are done, they will have doubled in size and have a translucent coating. Immediately scoop them out with a slotted spoon and drop them into the sugar syrup so they can absorb the flavour (skip this if you are Whole30). You can now add them to your drink or store them like this at room temperature for a few hours till you are ready to eat/drink them.
- To serve, scoop the boba into your cup with a slotted spoon. Add ice, if desired, and pour drink of choice over top (I used butterfly pea flower tea & lemon juice - pictured). Stir and drink!
Notes
The boba don't keep very well in the fridge so best to make them when you want to have them.
You can also buy the pre-made uncooked tapioca pearls at any asian grocer. Just look at the ingredients list if you want to avoid added sugar, colours or preservatives. Cook them the same way as noted above - add to boiling water and cook till they reach your desired consistency.
If you want to try it, Butterfly Pea Flower Tea can be found on Amazon, but I have also seen it incorporated into tea blends at Davids Tea near me. I found the Butterfly Pea Flower Tea itself is pretty tasteless, perhaps a bit of a green tea flavour depending on how strong you make it. But when mixed with lemon juice it is very refreshing. It is also such a cool blue colour that transforms to purple when you add citrus to it. Such a fun party trick!