Bubble Tea An Asian Drink Food

BUBBLE TEA

Steps:

• Fill a saucepan about halfway with water, and bring to a boil. Add the tapioca pearls, and return to a boil. Stir to make sure they do not start to stick together or to the pot. Cover, and simmer over medium heat for 45 minutes. Remove from the heat and let stand for 30 minutes, then rinse and drain. The pearls should be squishy and black. Stir some of the honey into the pearls so they are coated.
• Place the milk, any remaining honey, tea mix, and ice into the container of a blender. Cover, and blend to your desired slushiness. Pour the tea into two large glasses. Spoon half of the tapioca pearls into each glass. If you can find extra wide straws, place one into each drink to suck up the pearls and chew on them while you are drinking.

BUBBLE TEA (AN ASIAN DRINK)

Steps:

• 1. To make Tapioca Pearls 1 part tapioca pearls 4 parts (or more) water To make the tapioca pearls: When making the tapioca pearls, which are the chief ingredient in Asian bubble teas, please note that the pearls expand considerably when cooked. Please ensure that you use a large pot. (As a rule, the more pearls cooked, the more water should be used: that is, the water to pearl ratio must be higher. For 3kgs of pearls, we recommend using as much as 6 times as much water). Boil the water. Add the pearls to the boiling water and boil for 30 minutes. Stir occasionally to make sure the pearls are not sticking to each other or to the pot. Turn off heat and let the pearls steep in the water for another 30 minutes with the lid of the cooking pot on. Drain the tapioca pearls and rinse with cold water to cool them down. Place them in sugar syrup (sugar and water solution - see below). Make sure that the pearls are covered. Stir the pearls well. The pearls are now ready to enjoy.
• 2. To make Sugar Syrup 2 parts white sugar 1 part brown sugar To make the sugar syrup: in a saucepan, bring the water to boil. Add the sugars. Reduce heat and heat until the sugar crystals are dissolved. Remove from heat. Note: Please feel free to experiment with the ratio of white sugar to brown sugar, and the ratio of the sugar to water. 3 parts water
• 3. Directions: Prepare the sugar syrup for the tapioca pearls (see above). Prepare the tapioca pearls (see above) Place the tapioca pearls in the large glass jar Allow the tea to cool to room temperature. Add the milk. Remember the wild bar scenes in the Tom Cruise film Cocktail? Add the sugar syrup, milk and tea mix, and the ice cubes to a cocktail shaker and shake well. (Alternately you can process them in a blender, but that's not nearly as much fun!) Pour the shaken mixture into the glass with the tapioca pearls. Serve with a thick straw.

HOW TO MAKE BUBBLE TEA

Steps:

• Put the teabags or tea leaves in 100ml boiling water and leave to brew for 10-15 mins. Discard the teabags or tea leaves, then set the tea aside to cool to room temperature.
• Bring 500ml water to a rolling boil in a small saucepan set over a medium heat, then add the tapioca balls. Using a rubber spatula, stir the water and make sure the balls, or boba, are not sticking to the side of the pan. Turn the heat up to reach a rolling boil for 2 mins, then turn off the heat, but keep the pan on the stove with a lid on for another 2 mins. Drain the boba in a sieve under gentle running tap water for about 20 seconds to slow down the cooking. Using the same spatula, gently push the boba around in the mesh to make sure they don't stick and are cooling down evenly. Once they're cool to the touch, set in a mixing bowl, add the 1 tsp dark brown sugar and mix in thoroughly.
• To make the sugar syrup, add the 50g dark sugar to 60ml water in the same pan set over a medium heat. Slowly stir and let it come to a boil, making sure all the sugar has dissolved. Turn off the heat and leave to cool down. It will thicken as it cools. This will make approx. 80ml syrup, about 2½ servings. Any leftover syrup will keep in a jar in the fridge for up to a month. A dd the cooked boba and mix until thoroughly coated. The boba can be left covered for up to three hours. Do not refrigerate as they will harden.
• Assemble the bubble tea. Put the sweetened boba in a 485ml drinking glass, or two smaller glasses if you want to share. Swirl the boba to create a marble effect on the wall of the glass. Pour in the brewed tea and 1 tbsp of sugar syrup. Add ½ cup of ice and, using a metal spoon, stir the glass so the syrup and the tea are thoroughly mixed but make sure you don't scrape off the sticky marbling effect on the wall of the glass. Top up with 200ml of cold milk and serve with a boba straw.