serves 4
Boil a pot full of water.
Add, stirring gently:
1 c. WuFuYuan
black tapioca boba (“ready in 5 minutes”) pearls
Wait until the pearls float. Cover. Reduce heat to medium
and simmer 2-3 minutes. Turn off heat and let sit another 6 minutes. Strain. Submerge
for 20 seconds in cold water. Strain again. Pour into a medium mixing bowl.
Squirt onto pearls:
1/4 c. honey
Separately, heat until sugars dissolve:
1 c. water
2/3 c. sugar*
1/3 c. dark brown sugar
Pour 1/2 c. of this over the honey/boba mixture and let sit
for 1.5 hours.
Meanwhile, boil:
Meanwhile, boil:
4 c. water
Remove from heat, and let sit for 1 minute.
Add:
1/2 c. dried jasmine (or 1/4 c. green jasmine loose leaf
tea).
Cover and steep 15 minutes (ONLY 8 for tea!!). Strain
infusion into a pitcher. Add the remainder of the sugar water.
Add:
1.5 c. half and half.
Refrigerate.
When ready to serve, mix:
When ready to serve, mix:
1/4 c. boba
2 T. of the accompanying syrup
1.5 c. milk tea from the pitcher
some ice cubes (to complete the cooling).
Drink with a straw wide enough for the pearls.
*I used Moreno
cane sugar, which is coarser. Some
bloggers making their own bubble (boba) tea said they use raw sugar, which has
more flavor – not just sweet.
I purchased my tapioca pearls at a nearby Asian market after
doing some quick research on Amazon. The
brand I got usually had more the 4 stars online, so I felt confident in giving
it a try. It seems like every brand of
the tapioca boba pearls is different, and they have instructions on the
packages usually, but I extended the cooking time for mine past what the
package said, as a compromise between the package and the recipes I was seeing
(and also convenience, since I wasn’t organized enough to strain them when the
package instructions said).
The dried jasmine was hard to find, but one of the Asian markets in the Denver metro area does carry it. A good quality jasmine-infused green tea will work fine.
The dried jasmine was hard to find, but one of the Asian markets in the Denver metro area does carry it. A good quality jasmine-infused green tea will work fine.
Some recipes call for sweetened condensed milk instead of
half and half. I might try it if I want the tea as a dessert instead of a
with-(curry)-dinner drink.
What I've read says that the boba doesn't keep very well in
the refrigerator after it’s been cooked (not more than a day), so you may want
to cut the recipe down if you're only making one or two servings.
