SINGAPORE – Cannot get hold of your favourite bubble tea during this circuit breaker period?
For those who want to try making this sweet treat, the bad news is, it is not easy to get hold of ready-to-cook raw tapioca pearls now.
The good news is, with simple ingredients such as tapioca starch, sugar and water, and a lot of elbow grease, it is possible to make your own boba (tapioca balls or pearls).
While some videos online make the process of making boba look easy, I had a series of frustrating failures testing out various recipes.
Getting the right proportions of water, starch and black sugar for the dough is no mean feat.
Even dessert stall owner Shirley Lau, 49, whom I video-called in desperation for help, says she goes by the look of the dough and uses “agaration” (estimation) when she uses tapioca starch to make tapioca starch jellies for her bubur cha cha. Madam Lau runs Shirley Jie Desserts in Whampoa Drive.
With tips from her, I finally arrived at a recipe that even a novice cook should be able to pull off.
An important tip is, when forming the dough, the black sugar mixture must be boiling hot when you pour it into the tapioca starch.
Use a wooden rolling stick, a pair of chopsticks or the handle of a wooden spoon to stir the mixture. Wear gloves to knead the dough in the beginning as it is scalding hot.
When putting together the drink, adjust the amount of syrup, tea and milk to suit your preference.
Honestly, I am not fond of bubble tea, but there is a sense of power from being able to make your own boba and bubble tea. It is the feeling of being in charge as we adapt to circumstances beyond our control.
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TAPIOCA STARCH PEARLS
INGREDIENTS
180ml water
90g black sugar
295g tapioca starch, divided
6 pandan leaves (18g), knotted
METHOD
1. In a saucepan, pour in 180ml water and add the black sugar.
2. Turn on the heat and over medium-low heat, bring the mixture to a boil. Stir well.
3. In a mixing bowl, place 150g of starch.
4. In another bowl, place 105g of starch and set aside.
5. Pour two-thirds of the boiling-hot black sugar mixture into the mixing bowl.
6. Use a wooden rolling stick to stir the mixture gently in a clockwise direction for 10 seconds and add the remaining black sugar mixture. Continue stirring as the starch and hot sugar mixture turns into a paste.
7. Add 15g of starch from the other bowl and continue stirring for another 15 seconds. Add another 15g of starch and continue stirring.
8. Continue to stir and gradually add the remaining bowl of starch over one minute.
9. Put on gloves and knead the dough inside the mixing bowl. Do this for about one minute until the dough is soft and elastic.
10. Transfer the dough onto a clean flat surface and continue kneading it.
11. Dust the work surface with about one tablespoon of flour (10g) to prevent the dough from sticking. Knead it for about five minutes.
12. You should get 420g of dough. Divide the dough into four portions of 105g each. Cover three portions with clingwrap and set aside.
13. Take 100g of the dough and roll it out into a thin log of 1-cm thickness.
14. Divide this and cut into small pieces of 1-cm thickness.
15. Roll each piece of dough into a ball.
16. Repeat steps 13 and 14 with the rest of the dough.
17. Place 30g of tapioca starch in a deep dish.
18. Place the little dough balls into the dish and coat them in the starch.
19. Transfer the starch-coated balls into a sieve and sieve out the excess starch. Set aside.
20. Use 66g of pearls per serving. Store remaining raw tapioca pearls in a freezer-friendly resealable bag or container. You can keep them frozen for up to a month.
21. To cook 200g of pearls, bring 2.2 litres of water to a boil over high heat.
22. Add the pandan leaves.
23. Add the tapioca pearls. Once the pearls float to the surface, cover and cook for 15 minutes. Stir occasionally to prevent the pearls from sticking together.
24. Turn off the heat and allow the pearls to continue cooking in residual heat for 10 minutes.
25. Bring the cooking liquid to a boil again.
26. Prepare a bowl of iced water.
27. Use a slotted spoon or slotted ladle to transfer the cooked pearls into the bowl of iced water. Soak for five minutes. Drain off excess iced water and set aside the pearls in a bowl.
Makes six servings of pearls
BLACK SUGAR SYRUP
INGREDIENTS
100ml water
200g black sugar
METHOD
1. In a saucepan or pot, add the water and black sugar.
2. Bring to a boil over medium-low heat and simmer for five minutes.
3. Pour 160ml of the mixture into the bowl of pearls and mix well. Set aside.
4. Reserve the remaining sugar syrup for drizzling down the inside of your glass. Should the sugar syrup harden, use low heat to warm up the mixture. Stir in a little water if the syrup turns too thick.
Makes three servings
BUBBLE MILK TEA
INGREDIENTS
375ml of water
5 jasmine tea bags (15g)
3 Tbs black sugar syrup
200g tapioca pearls in black sugar syrup
450ml low-fat milk
12 cubes of ice
METHOD
1. Bring the water to a gentle boil and add the tea bags. Turn off the heat and let the tea bags steep for three minutes.
2. For each glass, take 1 tablespoon of black sugar syrup and drizzle it down the insides of the glass.
3. Spoon 66g of the syrup-soaked tapioca pearls into each glass.
4. Add 75ml of tea into each glass.
5. Add 150ml of milk into each glass.
6. Add the ice cubes.
7. You can top each glass with a sprinkling of black sugar or with any remaining black sugar syrup.
8. Serve immediately.
Makes three servings
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