Homemade Boba 'Tapioca Pearls' Bubble Milk Tea

Step 1

Heat up the water and sugar over medium heat. Stir until all the sugar has dissolved. Then turn off the heat.

Step 2

Add about 1 tablespoon of the tapioca flour and stir until well combined. Make sure there are no lumps.

Step 3

Turn the heat on again and stir the mixture until it starts thickening. Once it becomes thicker, remove from the heat.

Step 4

Add the rest of the tapioca flour and mix well until you obtain a sticky dough.

Step 5

On a lightly floured surface (floured with tapioca flour), knead the dough until it becomes uniform, soft and elastic. Tapioca dough can be very sticky, so add some extra flour, if needed.

Step 6

Roll the dough* into thin long rod-like pieces. Each roll needs to be quite thin, as the tapioca pearls will expand when cooked later on.

Step 7

Cut the rolls into small pieces. Then quickly roll each into a ball. **Repeat with the rest of the dough. Now you have your dried tapioca pearls ready. ***

Step 8

In a large saucepan, boil enough water to cover your boba. Then add the tapioca pearls to the boiling water (carefully, so you don't splash yourself). Stir well, so they don’t stick to the bottom of the or each other.

Step 9

Cover the pot with a lid. Boil for 20 minutes, then let them rest for another 20 minutes. Finally, drain the boba.You can now either add them to your favourite tea or milk drink or first make a sugar syrup for an extra special treat. I definitely suggest going for the extra next step though, as this takes the pearls from being 'nice' to 'more please' - adding a caramel-like flavour and softening the texture.

Step 10

For a traditional boba, then a black tea base is the norm. However, you can also use a variety of herbal teas, flavoured milks and even juices/smoothies as your drink base. If making a tea then simply steep the tea bags/tea leaves in warm milk (alternatively, make a tea as you would typically in the water, adding milk to dilute) and leave this to chill in the fridge until you want to use it. For my recipe, I decided to use Bantha Milk AKA 'Blue Milk', as my base. This drink is a sweet butterfly pea flower and lavender coconut milk (inspired by the Star Wars blue milk) and the combination of flavours with the pearls is delicious.

Step 11

To make the tapioca peals with brown sugar syrup, warm up the brown sugar over medium heat for a couple of minutes. The sugar only needs to be warmed up, not completely melted.

Step 12

Add the boba and stir well to coat all the pearls with the sugar.

Step 13

Add the warm sugary boba to a cup or glass (use a glass for a great visual effect) and roll the cup/glass to coat the walls with melted sugar.

Step 14

Then add ice cubes (optional) and your liquid - the cold brew tea/ iced tea, flavoured milk, juice or smoothie. You can also top it with some whipped cream and then serve.