Did you know it's actually easy to make your own boba at home with only 3 ingredients and a few simple steps? Follow the this recipe and you can make your own bubble tea any time you want! Show Boba tea (or bubble tea) is probably the most well known and popular item that has come out of Taiwan's food culture, along with other items like beef noodle soup and gua bao. I remember it started to get popular when I was about 10 years old. When the first boba place opened around my elementary school, the entire school was talking about it. I know I can buy dry black tapioca pearls in many Chinese grocery stores, but there were concerning reports about toxic ingredients being used in certain tapioca pearls (including some used in boba shops). Because of this, I much prefer making my own boba, especially if it's for my family. It's actually very simple to do this, and the flavor is better than the store bought ones, as I use real Taiwanese brown sugar instead of using cheaper sugar and relying on food coloring. Why You Should Try This Recipe
Ingredients You'll NeedApart from water, you only need two other ingredients - Taiwanese brown sugar and tapioca flour. note
Step by Step InstructionStep 1 - Combine water and Taiwanese brown sugar in a small sauce pan and bring it to a boil over medium heat. Step 2 - While the liquid is boiling, add about ⅓ to half of the tapioca flour in, cook and stir constantly until it forms a very sticky dough/paste. Step 3 - Remove the pan from the heat and add the rest of the tapioca flour, stir until all the dough comes off of the bottom of the pan (about 10 times), and pour the mixture onto a working surface. Step 4 - Knead the dough until smooth. Add some cold water if the dough is too dry. Step 5 - Take a portion of dough and roll it into a thin (roughly ⅓ inch thick) and uniform log before cutting it into small pieces (slightly smaller than the size of the boba you're aiming for) and then roll into balls. Repeat this step for the rest of the dough. While doing this step, wrap the rest of the dough with plastic wrap to prevent it from drying out. Toss your tapioca balls with a bit of tapioca flour to prevent the boba pearls from sticking together. Step 6 - Bring 6 cups of water to a rapid boil over medium heat. Add boba pearl and cook for 15-20 minutes while stirring occasionally. Turn off the heat, cover with a lid, and let it sit for another 15 minutes. Step 7 - Drain the boba and give them a quick rinse with cold water. Place them in a bowl and mix in 2 tablespoon of Taiwanese brown sugar. Now it's ready to use! Check out my milk tea recipe for the best tasting milk tea to go with boba. You can also just serve it with brown sugar milk or any of your favorite drinks. Tips and Tricks
Can I substitute tapioca flour with corn starch (or other kinds of starch)? No, tapioca flour/starch is the key ingredient for making this recipe. What does the ideal dough feels like? It should be a bit moist but not sticking on your hand, kind of like playdough. Adjust your dough to the right texture by adding tapioca flour/starch or cold water. Why did my boba dough became dry and hard to work with after a while? The boba dough dries easily, so make sure you wrap, with plastic wrap, the dough that you're not working on at the moment. If your dough becomes too dry and hard to work with, wet your hands with some water before you work with the boba dough. Why do some other recipes cook the cooked boba pearl again in brown sugar syrup? This helps infuse the brown sugar taste and aroma into the boba pearls as the store bought ones are usually made with artificial coloring and aren't sweet. Since we made ours with real Taiwanese brown sugar, we don't need this extra step. Simply mix some more brown sugar with drained and rinsed boba pearls to prevent sticking and you're good to go! Can I freeze my boba? Yes, but only the uncooked boba pearls. You can store them in a Ziploc bag in the freezer for two months. Do I need to adjust the cooking time when cooking the frozen boba pearls? Yes, you will need to cook frozen boba dough balls 5 minutes longer. I hope you all have fun making boba at home! Feel free to leave a comment or send me a message if you have any questions. Enjoy!! Other Taiwanese Recipes
I would like to hear from you! If you make this recipe, please consider leaving a star rating and comment in the section further down the page. Stay in touch by following my Instagram and Pinterest! Learn how to make great tasting boba at home with all natural ingredients. Prep Time 20 mins Cook Time 20 mins Resting time 15 mins Total Time 55 mins Course Dessert, Taiwanese Cuisine Taiwanese Servings 2 servings Calories 161 kcal Boba Dough
To serve
Making the dough
Shaping
Cooking
Serving
Storing
Serving: 1servingCalories: 161kcalCarbohydrates: 42gProtein: 1gSodium: 13mgPotassium: 56mgSugar: 41gCalcium: 35mgIron: 1mg |