Everything you need to know about tea bubbles, including their history, how to make them and how to use them.
Tapioca pearls are chewy spheres of boiled root starch traditionally eaten with a bit of sugar water, but more commonly now served in a tall glass of icy milk tea. The word tapioca refers to roots of the cassava plant, but these pearls are more often than not a combination of sweet potato starch, cassava starch, sugar and a bit of corn starch. The pearls themselves don’t hold much flavor; instead they’re a textural addendum to a cool, balanced beverage or dessert.
Tapioca pearls are commonplace throughout southeast Asia and East Asia. In the 1980s, they were accidentally put into tea in Taiwan, and quickly became an international hit and beverage icon. Today, bubble tea stores can be found in most major metropolitan cities in the world.
How to prepare Tapioca Pearls for Bubble TeaStep 1: Boil Water. … Step 2: Pour tapioca into boiling water. … Step 3: Stir lightly. … Step 4: Let the tapioca float to the top. … Step 5: Cook for 15 minutes on high heat with cover on. … Step 6: Steep the cooked tapioca for 15 minutes. … Step 7: Drain the water from the cooked tapioca.
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Step 1: Boil Water. …
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Step 2: Pour tapioca into boiling water. …
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Step 3: Stir lightly. …
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Step 4: Let the tapioca float to the top. …
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Step 5: Cook for 15 minutes on high heat with cover on. …
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Step 6: Steep the cooked tapioca for 15 minutes. …
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Step 7: Drain the water from the cooked tapioca.
How To Cook Tapioca Pearls
To cook dried tapioca pearls, you’ll need to simmer them to rehydrate. The cooking time really depends on how large the pearls are. “For big pearls, you have to cook them at a minimum of 30 minutes to an hour,” advises Chiu. Here’s what to do.
- Add them to boiling water. Working in a 5:1 ration of water to pearls, add the pearls to a pot of boiling water. Bring the water to a boil again.
- Cover, and then turn the heat down to low. It’s important that the water is still slightly bubbling.
- Simmer, stirring often. Remove the lid and stir often so that the pearls don’t stick to one another. The balls are ready when they’re completely translucent with a small white dot in the middle. A finished tapioca pearl should be slightly chewy with a bit of resistance and not at all mushy.
- Strain and cool the pearls. When they’re done, strain, and cool them down with some crushed ice or ice water.
- Mix the pearls into warm sugar water. Put them in warm sugar water so that they don’t stick to one another. For the sugar water, Chiu recommends mixing together a combination of brown sugar and turbinado sugar in hot water.
- Serve immediately or within one day. Cooked tapioca pearls have a short shelf life of only a day or two.
Different Types of Tapioca Pearls
Old-school tapioca pearls are clear, translucent and come in small, teardrop-like sizes. They used to be all handmade, put together by combining starch and water and rolling the chalky dough into tiny, individual balls. Over the years, these pearls have gotten as large as marbles, and have been colored an inky black with brown sugar and a bit of food dye. These larger pearls are more commonly referred to as boba.
Today, most tapioca pearls are dried and factory-made with additives, which gives them a much longer shelf life. You can buy them at Asian grocery stores across the world. “Every factory makes different size tapioca pearls,” noted Chiu Si-Chuan, owner of A Chuan Homemade Tapioca, a dessert shop in southern Taiwan that makes tapioca pearls from scratch.
If you love the boba tea shops popping up and want to try making them at home, these tapioca bubbles will taste better that anything you can buy. Theyre a labor of love, so when it comes time to roll the little boba, hop on a stool or grab a friend to help you out. You’ll have enough to make 8 glasses of your very own homemade bubble tea.
How to Cook Tapioca Pearls | Cooking and Preparing Tapioca Pearls for Milk Tea | Important Tips
FAQ
Do you soak tapioca pearls before cooking?
What is the ratio of water to tapioca pearls?
How do you cook tapioca pearls?
Because they are so starchy, you’ll have to change the water a couple times and discard batches of starchy water. Note that 1 cup dried tapioca pearls yields roughly 2 1/2 cups cooked tapioca pearls. Bring 6 cups water to a boil in a deep pot, and add the tapioca. Bring it to a boil again, cover, and turn the heat down to medium low.
Can You boil tapioca pearls?
Bring the water to a boil before you pour in the tapioca pearls. If you boil the water after adding the tapioca pearls, it will take way longer! Measure out the amount of water you need, pour it into a large, heavy-bottomed pot, and bring the water to a rolling boil over high heat.
How much water do you need to cook tapioca pearls?
Generally, you should use about 8 cups of water for every 1 cup of tapioca pearls. Boil the water first: It’s important to bring the water to a rolling boil before adding the tapioca pearls. This helps ensure that they cook evenly and don’t stick together.
Do you wash tapioca pearls before cooking?
Do NOT wash or rinse tapioca pearls before cooking. They must go from the package directly into boiling water. You must pre-boil the water before adding the tapioca. Do not add them until the water is at a rolling boil. The size of tapioca pearls can vary, and you may need to adjust the cooking time accordingly.