Homemade Bubble Tea

So personally I really love bubble tea! There are so many variations and flavours to try out, and they are all pretty yummy stuff. Some places don't really sell them as much as others (or at all) leaving all the bubble tea lovers sad and unsatisfied. Have no fear! You can produce amazing tasty bubble tea in the comfort of your own home, whatever your preferences.
I'll show you the basic recipe and offer tips / instructions on other variations as well (And its easier than you might think). n__n

Firstly! The base ingredient is good quality tapioca pearls / boba / sago.
There are lots of varieties to choose from, the popular black boba, original white/clear type and even rainbow varieties! I would suggest the easy cook types, they usually state "cook in 5 mins or 15min". They will make your life alot easier!! These are partly cooked so they take less time and effort for you.
You can use whichever size/ colour you like as boba pearls have no real flavour of their own, so it won't impact the taste of your desired tea, unless they have been pre-flavoured (you can get green tea or caramel etc)! If you want to use the small type you can, but it is generally preferred to use the larger variety for a yummy chewy treat.

Ingredients:

• ¼ cup dried boba tapioca pearls per serving
• ½ cup light brown sugar
• ½ cup white sugar
• 1-2 tea bags per serving, whichever you like
• water
• condensed milk, honey, syrup (optional)
• milk, almond milk, coconut milk or soya milk (optional)

Method:

Cooking your boba pearls

Measure 3 cups of water for every ¼ cup of boba being prepared into a saucepan. Bring the water to a rolling boil over high heat and then add the boba and stir gently until they begin floating to the top of the water.
I used WuFuYuan Classic black pearls. For these the instructions are on the back!
You can buy them here: WuFuYuan Black Pearls You can also find the chunky straws there too!

A lot of people have a hard time with this step if they haven't bought the "easy cook" type depending on their boba brand. If the pearls are not cooked through (not gummy but powdery inside) just add more water as it goes down and keep cooking them! I know people out there might say "Don't over cook it!" But if you've ever had this problem you know what I'm talking about. Just make sure there is enough water for them to float about in freely, or they will melt. Stir occasionally so they don't stick at the bottom of the pan and keep an eye on them. You'll know when they are done because they will be chewy all the way through and not powdery at all. This is the biggest hurdle, once you have gotten your boba pearls chewy and cooked the rest is a real breeze!! :D
Strain your cooked boba pearls and rinse under cold water.

Simple Syrup

You will need a simple syrup to flavour the boba pearls and keep their texture. This is pretty easy and can been done while you are cooking the boba. Pour 1 cup of water into a saucepan and bring to the boil. Add  ½ cup of light brown sugar and  ½ cup white sugar to the boiling water and mix until the sugar starts to dissolve.
Either set aside and wait for your boba too cook or of they are done add the cooked boba pearls. Pour into a small bowl or container to hold you're sweetened boba and simple syrup mix!

Making your desired bubble tea!

Prepare your desired tea! Yingdehong / Yinghong tea is a nice sweet black tea that goes well with sweet flavours and condensed milk. Oolong tea or Jasmine are tasty too. But honestly you can use any type of tea you like, even coffee if you want! Use 1 - 2 teabags for a strong taste and leave to cool.

Now for a simple bubble tea pour the prepared tea, along with your sweetener of choice and milk, cream etc into a blender and whizz together until light and frothy! Pour the boba pearls into a glass and pour your tea over. A simple yummy bubble tea!

Now if you are going for a more chilled / slushie type tea, you will need to add about five large ice cubes in the blender! You can also add ice cream for a more creamy thick tea.

For a more fruity tea you will need to add your fruit (and you can use any fruit you like) when blending.
Common fruits used are melon, strawberries, peaches, mango etc. Is is common for some people to cut out the tea completely and just make it into a boba smoothie!
But here is an example.
For a thick chilled mango and papaya bubble tea I would brew a cup of sweet black tea, and cool. Peal and cut up 1 whole mango into cubes (its easier for your blender). Add about  ½ cup of papaya juice and  ½ cup milk. Add some honey and 1 cup vanilla ice cream and about 2-3 ice cubes. Whizz in the blender until frothy and pour over my boba pearls in a tall glass.

Now you can edit that recipe with different fruit, juice sweetener etc as much as you like, but it is a basic guide line. I hope you try it out and have some fantastic bubble tea!

Notes:

"Bubble tea started out as a cold milk tea in Taiwan during the 80's that was shaken until really frothy so it had "bubbles", there was no boba involved yet, but soon they started to add cubes of jelly and small tapioca pearls and later the larger ones that are more popular today."

"A big benefit of making it at home is that a lot of the the places that sell bubble teas use powdered sweeteners and ingredients that are very unhealthy for you! Using natural or fresher flavourings like honey, liquid almond milk/ coconut milk (not artificial powders) and fruit juices makes the homemade versions much healthier."