Tapioca Pearls from Scratch using Microwave

 

Bubble Tea 3 Ways

Yields 3 Servings (1 1/2cup of uncooked pearls)

Ingredients

Tapioca pearls:

180g (1 1/2 cups) Tapioca starch

**Edit: You can add up to 1 cup extra tapioca flour if your dough is still too sticky.(Some people are having problems with sticky dough so it might help, some times humidity and the microwave step might lead to a sticky dough)

80g (6 tbsp) Muscovado or dark brown sugar 

120g (1/2 cup) Hot water

60g (1/4 cup) Extra muscovado or dark brown sugar

Extra water, for cooking

Few cups of room temperature drinking water, for rinsing

Tapioca Pearls

1. Combine 1/2 cup of hot water and 80g (6 tbsp) sugar in a heatproof/microwave safe bowl

2. Stir and if sugar is not totally dissolved, heat for 20 seconds in the microwave

3. Add in 37g (1/3 cup) of tapioca starch into the sugar solution and stir until no lumps

4. Heat the liquid on a bain-marie/ in the microwave, stirring constantly 

** I left mine 20-ish seconds in High and it came out gooey and perfect for rolling

5. It will be ready when it is thick, sticky and translucent, remove from heat

6. Add in the rest of the tapioca starch 1 tbsp at a time and knead until it forms a firm but elastic dough (you may not need to use all depending on the humidity, if it is too dry add a tad of cold water to adjust)

7. Roll dough into logs that can pass through your boba straw

8. Cut the logs into small pillows and shape the pillows into pearls

9. Put it in a slightly “tapioca starch”-coated bowl and tumble it to make it rounder

10. In a large pot, bring 8 cups water (if you are cooking all of the pearls at the same time) to a rolling boil

11. Pour in the pearls into the pot and stir them occasionally to prevent the pearls from sticking to the bottom, you can stop when the pearls start to float

12. When the water returns back to a rolling boil, cover the pot and turn down the heat to medium low and cook for 15 minutes

13. Turn the heat off and let it sit for 10 minutes, do not open the lid during this stage

14. Drain the pearls and rinse them with room temp drinking water until it feels warm to the touch/ not hot anymore

15. Combine 60g (1/4 cup) of sugar and cooked pearls in a large bowl and mix it until all coated

Earl grey milk tea / black milk tea:

3 Earl grey teabags / Any black tea 

160g (2/3 cup) Hot water

40g (1/6 cup) Half and half

15g (1 tbsp) Simple syrup*

Ice

Jasmine milk tea:

3 Jasmine tea bags

160g (2/3 cup) Hot water

40g (1/6 cup) Half and half

15g (1 tbsp) Simple syrup*

Ice

Taro milk tea:

1 Green tea bag

80g (1/3 cup) Hot water, for brewing tea

80g (1/3 cup) Hot water

25g (2 tbsp) Taro powder

30g (2 tbsp) Half and half

Ice

*Simple syrup:

1:1 Sugar and Water

Method

Simple syrup

1. Combine 1 part water and 1 part sugar in a small sauce pot

2. Heat it on medium and stir until sugar dissolves

3. Let syrup reach a rolling boil and remove from heat

4. Let it cool, refrigerate to store 

Earl grey/ Jasmine

1. Steep the tea bags into the hot water for 4(J)/5(EG) minutes

2. Remove tea bag from tea

3. In a cocktail shaker/mason jar, add ice 3/4 of the way

4. Add the half and half, sugar syrup and brewed tea into the ice

5. Shake the tea until the tea is thoroughly chilled, you can feel it from the shaker

6. In a glass, add 1/3 of pearls into the bottom and add a couple cubes of ices, strain the chilled drink on to it and serve it with a thick straw.

Taro

1. Steep the green tea bags into 80g of hot water for 2.5 minutes

2. Remove tea bag from tea

3. Dissolve the taro powder in 80g of hot water

4. In a cocktail shaker/mason jar, add ice 3/4 of the way

5. Add the half and half, brewed tea and taro mixture into the ice

6. Shake the tea until the tea is thoroughly chilled, you can feel it from the shaker

7. In a glass, add 1/3 of pearls into the bottom and add a couple cubes of ices, strain the chilled drink on to it and serve it with a thick straw.

Tips

I. Tapioca pearls will go hard if it is refrigerated so it is best to consume on the day it is cooked but you can store uncooked pearls in the freezer in an airtight container for up to 3 months. Cook it straight out of the freezer, do not defrost

II. If dough is too dry and cracking, add a little room temp water, if too sticky add tapioca starch

III. Every large Boba straws come in a slight variation in size, so make sure to roll it according to your straw size to prevent it from getting stuck

IV. The more you tumble the pearls the rounder it gets, so I usually shape my pearls with a quick pinching motion to round the corners and let the tumbling do it’s work to make it round. It saves a lot of time this way

V. Our cocktail shaker is small so we did the shaking in 2 batches

VI. Simple syrup quantities are just for reference, adjust the sweetness to your liking

VII. If you want real taro in your drink, dice a peeled purple taro root, around the size of the straw, and steam it until a fork sticks through it. Add it in with the pearls in the bottom of the glass

VIII. For the earl grey tea, add pearls, egg pudding and grass jelly to make Gong Chas signature combo