Recipe | In pursuit of the perfect homemade bubble tea

I met my first cup of zhen zhu nai cha, also known as Boba or bubble tea, when I was in my preteen years. At the time, I was packing up my life to live and study in SA. Bubble tea was a new immigrant, like the soon-to-be me at the time. Hailing from Taiwan, it was invented in a tea house by adding a bunch of fen yuan, tapioca pearls, into a cup of tea with milk, usually served cold, sweetened by honey and/or condensed milk. An edible, drinkable dessert, which has evolved into several versions in the past four decades.

Bubble tea has become a symbol of a vibrant snack culture not only in Taiwan, but worldwide. I’ve noticed that bubble tea shops have become a full-blown sensation on the Southern African shores. The addictive and chewy texture of the tapioca pearls, the creaminess of milk tea, the simple pleasure of popping a straw into the cup, on an easy afternoon, while catching up with a friend … a good reminder of how luxurious simplicity really is, is what I love the most about these “pearls of leisure”.

The classic version of bubble tea involves black tea, with milk and condensed milk, and tapioca pearls, which were made from cassava flour and dark sugar. To make bubble tea at home is quite simple. The main challenge is to make tapioca pearls, and making sure that they are chewy enough: “QQ” is Chinese for “perfectly chewy”. Every cup of bubble tea begins with a scoop of the pearls, or grass jelly, fruit pieces, red beans and even egg pudding, followed by tea or juices and a whole lot of ice.

Ingredients:

• 8 bags of black tea, or 3 tablespoons of loose leaf black tea; though I’ve tried with barley tea, absolutely delicious
• 4 cups of hot water
• 1 cup of quick cooking tapioca pearls. I bought mine at Tai Pei Supermarket on Derrick Avenue in Chinatown *I’ve attached a recipe of how to make your own tapioca pearls
• Milk to serve, any milk of your choice
• Syrup, honey or condensed milk, I love condensed milk for my bubble tea.

Method:

1. To make tea: steep tea bags in hot water, till it cools down; I use loose leaf tea normally, or barley tea, prefer to brew it on the stove on low heat for at least 10 minutes before leaving to cool completely.

2. To make tapioca pearls, there is a long and short method. Long method, make them from scratch, there are plenty of good recipes on the internet, the one I normally follow is from Theflavorbender.com. I admit, it is quite a labour-intensive task to make your own tapioca pearls, but the perks are definitely there, you can make a batch in advance to freeze, and it is a fun activity to do with kids. Short method: purchase a packet of fen yuan from your Asian supermarket of choice. I’ve attached a photo of the one I bought from Tai Pei Supermarket in Chinatown. I prefer this brand, as it is not too loaded with sugar, and no added preservatives involved.

3. Bring the water to the boil, add tapioca pearls to hot water (Note: Please do not add pearls into cold water as they will fall apart), lower heat to medium, stir slowly, gently and frequently for 30 minutes, until pearls are translucent. If made in advance, leave the pearls in water till you serve, so they don’t dry up

4. Sweetener: to make a simple syrup, you can mix water with sugar, stir slowly on low heat till you get a syrupy consistency. I prefer to use condensed milk .

5. To serve: a scoop of tapioca pearls, strain tea if using leaf tea, add a dash of milk, finish with the sweetener of your choice. Serve and enjoy!