How to make boba
How to make boba
How to Make Boba from Scratch (aka Tapioca Pearls) for Bubble Tea
Chewy and sweet boba is such a treat whenever I drink jasmine milk tea or any other bubble tea. After years of buying premade boba, I finally have a recipe to make boba at home anytime I feel a craving coming on. With just three ingredients, dark brown sugar, water, and tapioca starch, you can learn how to make boba too!
Why make homemade boba?
While I’ve been to plenty of boba cafes in the past 20 years, I’ve found it’s pretty rare to find homemade boba from scratch at these cafes. Recently, OneZo (shops in California, New York and Massachusetts) made headlines making their boba in-store and I started to research making boba at home because I wanted to know exactly what I was consuming.
After buying about 13 varieties of premade boba from different stores and online boba shops online, I saw that many of these boba pearls were made with many types of ingredients that I didn’t recognize. While I was researching how to make boba from scratch, I’ve found that most boba is made by a few ingredients: tapioca starch, dark brown sugar, and water.
The best tapioca pearl / boba brands
Making boba from home can be quite a challenge so I wanted to offer you another option–buying premade pearls. If you want to make boba milk tea using premade boba, you can buy various brands online and in stores.
But please be warned, many people seem to have difficulty cooking premade boba even when they come with instructions. I bought 13 different varieties to help people troubleshoot these cooking issues, and the methods to cooking can vary greatly from brand, and type within a brand, but in the end if you’re willing to experiment and retry, it’s much easier than trying to make your own boba.
These brands below are four of 13 I tested and these stood out from the pack as the best because of the quick cooking time and better final results. Here is a list of brands I recommend:
To cook these different types of boba, you can refer to our previous How to Cook White Tapioca Pearls and How to Cook Tapioca Pearls posts. I also list our why I prefer these specific brands and types on these posts for the boba above.
Why making your own boba can be difficult
When I first attempted this, I honestly thought this would be an easy process; This mindset quickly went out the window after my second time trying to make my pearls. It’s worth mentioning that this can be a tricky process because working with tapioca starch is a sticky situation.
While working with this recipe, I dealt with timing and texture issues with my dough. With my dough going from being too sticky and wet to being too dry. After several rounds of testing, I finally found a recipe that works. I’ve also listed some tips below to help you get chewy and sweet boba.
How to make tapioca pearls (step by step)
Step 1. In a saucepan over medium heat, combine the dark brown sugar and water. Stir until the liquid warms up and the sugar dissolves. This takes about 45 seconds.
Step 2. Remove the pan from the heat and add two tablespoons as you constantly mix to make sure its even. This should happen in under five seconds.
the final consistency after mixing all the tapioca flour
Step 3. Add the rest of the tapioca starch in your pan and mix thoroughly. You want to make sure you get all the tapioca starch incorporated into the thick mixture. It may get a little tiring stirring so much, but it’s worth it! This should give you a thick and sticky consistency of dough. It should take about one minute total.
Step 4. Sprinkle tapioca starch over your cutting board or pastry board. Transfer the dough onto the surface, adding a little more tapioca starch on top of the dough.
final dough texture goal when you pull it apart hard
Step 5. Carefully begin to knead your dough and sprinkle in more tapioca starch if it’s still too sticky. I like to knead for about two minutes. Test your dough by pulling it apart and if it snaps or breaks in the middle then it’s ready. It should also be smooth.
Step 6. Cut your dough in quarters and place three sections in cling wrap to prevent it from drying out. With one quarter, roll it into a log with about a ¼ of a quarter diameter.
Step 7. Then cut the log into about ¼ of a quarter pieces. Take one piece and roll in between your palms to make a small ball. (Note, the boba will expand in the boiling water as it cooks)
Step 8. Sprinkle some tapioca starch into a tray or bowl and place your boba balls in there to prevent them from sticking. Repeat with the rest of the dough.
Step 7. After you’ve finished rolling all your balls, place them in a strainer and remove the excess starch.
Step 8. Boil about 10 cups of water in a large pot and then add about ½ cup of boba into the pot. Wait for the boba to float, then cook on medium heat for about 20 minutes, uncovered. Note: after putting my boba in the boiling water, I noticed they changed their shape similar to raisins. But after boiling for 20 minutes, they rounded out again.
Step 9. Remove the pot from the stove, and then cover with a lid and rest for another 20 minutes.
Step 10. Strain the boba from the water and run them under cold water to remove the excess starchy layer and stop the cooking process and use these pearls as soon as possible.
Step 11 (optional). If you want to further sweeten the boba, you can add the boba and two tablespoons of dark brown sugar (or honey) in a bowl and leave it to marinate for ten minutes. Serve your boba with jasmine milk tea or thai tea. Again try to serve and eat these pearls as soon as you can.
Tips to ensure better results
Can I make tapioca pearls with cornstarch?
It is really important to use tapioca starch when making boba or tapioca pearls because you need the sticky and chewy nature of tapioca starch in your dough. Cornstarch does not have the same properties to give you this same texture.
You can find tapioca starch in various Asian grocery stores or even in grocery stores. I have seen Bob’s Red Mill Tapioca Starch available online and in-stores. Please note, in America, tapioca starch and tapioca flour are one in the same.
How do you keep Boba chewy?
You should consume boba as soon as you make it to get the perfect texture, or at least four hours within cooking them for the best texture. To keep boba chewy, you can submerge them in a sweet, room temperature liquid until you add them in your drink. Once you put them in the fridge, they begin to harden.
How to Cook Tapioca Pearls
Tapioca pearls, or boba, are translucent and sweet pops of goodness that give drinks and desserts an extra chewy bite. While I love asking, “Boba?” after every meal, I also like to cook these at home since it’s pretty easy and worth it if you’re making drinks for a group of people.
Where to start
If you have white boba, I have a separate post about how to cook white tapioca pearls. While it is very similar, there are some brand-specific differences which could matter if you happened to buy those.
If your package of tapioca pearls comes with instructions, following that is your best bet since cooking methods and times can vary greatly between brands.
If the silly manufacturers sent you packing with a bag of boba without instructions for some reason, the 30 & 30 method below is a good start, since it worked for most brands of boba I tested, whether it required a slight time reduction, or multiple rounds.
The brands I tested
If you have a specific brand that I haven’t tested, I would recommend using the 30 & 30 method below as a starting point. If it gets too soft, reduce the cooking time. If its still raw in the center, consider additional rounds of cooking and resting the pearls.
The 30 & 30 cooking method
This means 30 minutes of cooking followed by 30 minutes of rest. If you’ve never made boba at home before, the 30 & 30 method is a great way to start without being too confused especially since many brands have different types of boba. This method also works for many white tapioca pearls too! So far, this method has yet to fail me.
Step 1. In a large pot, boil about ten cups of water for every ½ cup of dried tapioca pearls. For every half a cup of dried boba, it makes about one cup of cooked boba. (Please refrain from rinsing boba before cooking because they may disintegrate)
Step 2. Once you have a rolling boil, add your dried tapioca pearls into the pot and wait for the boba to float. This should take about 30 seconds. Once all the boba float to the top, lower the heat to medium and keep a simmer. Continue to cook for 30 minutes uncovered.
Step 3. After 30 minutes, move the pot off the stove, cover it with a lid, and let it rest for an additional 30 minutes. Then, strain the boba and run them under cold water to remove the excess starch around them.
Step 4. Taste test your boba and see if they have a chewy consistency throughout. While this technique typically works the first time around, if you do find the center is still hard, repeat the 30 & 30 method again until you find your desired texture. Note: the longer boba stays in liquid the softer it will become and may disintegrate eventually.
Step 5. (Optional) If the boba are cooked, you can now choose to sweeten your boba with a few tablespoons of dark brown sugar or honey for an additional 10 minutes.
Quick cooking method – WuFuYuan & E-FA brand pearls
This quick method is based on two very specific boba brands: WuFuYuan and E-Fa boba. These brands have boba that’s quick to make in about five minutes and you don’t even need to soak the boba first. If you don’t know if your boba is quick cooking or it doesn’t specifically state on the label it is quick cooking, I would recommend using the 30 & 30 method above.
For different sizes and types of brown tapioca pearls, the steps and timing can vary so make sure you reference the package first. However, here’s how I’ve done it:
Step 1. Bring your water to a boil over high heat. Don’t add the boba yet.
Step 2. When the water is boiling, add your boba carefully (they may splatter a bit) and wait until the boba begins to float. I prefer WuFuYuan’s medium sized brown boba.
Step 3. After all the boba floats to the top, lower the heat to medium, cover the pot and cook for an additional two to three minutes. I watch over the pearls throughout this entire time because they cook fairly fast.
Step 4. Test one ball and test for chewiness to make sure it’s cooked and transfer the boba to a new container. The texture should be chewy, but slightly al dente. You want to remove the boba from the pot before it gets too soft and begins to degrade. The boba will also continue to cook slightly after removing them from the water, too, so keep that in mind.
Step 5. I don’t know about you, but I like to add extra flavor to my boba by soaking it further in a simple syrup sauce using the leftover water and brown sugar. Add this sauce into the boba container and soak for about 10 minutes. Soaking the boba also keeps your boba from sticking to one another and drying out before adding them in your drink or dessert.
Step 6. This should give you chewy and sweetened boba. Now you can add the sweetened boba to your drinks and dessert and enjoy!
Some frequently asked questions:
What are tapioca pearls?
While historically tapioca pearls have been made of other starches like rice flour, tapioca pearls are most popularly made out of hot water and tapioca starch and then rolled into balls.
Tapioca pearls originated from southeast Asia and are used in various types of desserts and drinks like milk tea and Thai tea.
Boba comes in different sizes and colors. You can find tapioca pearls at your local Asian grocery store, like 99 Ranch Market, or at various online retailers. Here are different varieties of boba:
How to store tapioca pearls
If you have any dry, unused tapioca pearls, I like to keep them in an airtight container and keep them in my refrigerator to keep them extra fresh. In my fridge, they last a couple months.
For cooked pearls, I would eat those up ASAP because the longer you keep them out, the gummier they become due to the tapioca starch.
How do you eat tapioca pearls?
Tapioca pearls are very versatile in Asian desserts. Most popularly you can add them in milk tea drinks like hot almond milk tea, taro milk tea, or Thai tea, but they can also be used in traditional desserts, like chè chuối.
Do you have to soak tapioca pearls?
Depending on the type of tapioca pearls you purchase, and what the packaging says, I like to soak the pearls in sugar syrup or honey after cooking to give them extra flavor and sweetness.
Can you use white tapioca pearls for bubble tea?
Yes, you can use white tapioca pearls (it has different cooking instructions), but I would soak them in sugar syrup or honey after cooking so they taste sweet. Otherwise, white tapioca pearls are fairly unflavored.
Why did my tapioca pearls dissolve?
The longer pearls are in liquid, the more they disintegrate. This is why you need to serve and consume pearls as soon as possible.
What are tapioca pearls made of?
Boba are chewy, round balls made of tapioca flour and water.
Why is it called boba?
Boba is a nickname for tapioca pearls added into milk tea. This nickname originated from its first introduction in Hong Kong, when people started to call the tapioca pearls “boba” because they resembled big pearls.
What’s the difference between boba and bubble tea?
Boba and bubble tea are different terms for the same thing. While boba can refer to the actual tapioca pearls, it can also refer to the milk tea drink and bubble tea is just a nickname of the milk tea, too.
How to make Black Tapioca Pearls for Bubble Tea (Milk Tea)
BY : Bebs | Published: 10/24/ 2018 | Updated: 11/19/ 2021 | 322 Comments
Learn how to make black tapioca pearls or boba pearls from scratch with this simple tutorial. You’ll only need 3 main ingredients. It is so easy and fun to make and much better than using the store-bought dried ones.
Making your own boba pearls is really easy and it could be a fun and rewarding project for the family. Plus you can have bubble teas anytime the cravings hits and save some bucks too. I also find that fresh tapioca pearls are much better than the dried ones. They cook faster, for one and you know exactly what’s in it. They are just like the ones we had in bubble teas when we were in Taipei.
Actually, I get mixed reviews with this tapioca pearls recipe. There are a lot who were able to make it successfully without any problem, there those who were able to work it out and there are those who are not so lucky. I collected some tips and advices from our readers who tried making it and I did some more trials to find out what works and what doesn’t so please read the whole post.
What are tapioca pearls?
Tapioca pearls or balls are small, edible orbs, slightly smaller than marbles that are typically used for desserts and drinks in Southeast Asian cuisine. They are made from the starch or cassava roots that gives them their chewy, transluscent characteristics. They also have neutral flavors and are sometimes soaked in sugar syrup to sweeten them.
Black tapioca pearls or boba are colored tapioca balls used for milk or ‘bubble’ teas that are very popular nowadays.
What are they made of?
There are just two main ingredients for making tapioca pearls, tapioca starch and water. The tapioca starch is the starch extracted from the cassava roots. Sometimes also called cassava starch, but do not confuse it with cassava flour as the latter is typically powdered cassava roots. The other ingredient is water that binds the starch together to form a dough. For it to work it must be boiling hot.
Dark brown sugar can be added to give them a darker shade and make them sweet. But for the real black color, you have to use food coloring.
How to make tapioca pearls or boba?
How to cook tapioca pearls?
Cooking freshly made tapioca pearls is much simpler than using dried ones.
If using dried boba pearls, add the balls in a pot of boiling water. Cover and cook for several minutes depending on the size of the balls, 15 minutes for the tiny ones and 30 minutes or up to an hour for the bigger ones. Just cook them until there is no longer a white or solid core visible. You may need to add more water if it starts to get too thick and slimy.
How to store?
This recipe will make about a cup of tapioca balls or about 2-3 servings. You can make a bigger batch, but I will not really recommend it. First, because fresh ones cooks faster and has better texture and they are not that difficult to make anyway. Second, working in smaller scale is easier and more manageable. Bigger scale means bigger dough and if you have nobody helping you to roll them into those tiny balls, the dough will start to dry up and will no longer be as pliable and you might have difficulty forming the balls.
But in case you like to make them ahead or was not able to use them all up at once, here are my tips for storage:
To store fresh uncooked tapioca pearls, place the balls on a plate and just leave them on the kitchen counter for a day or two to dry up completely. Then transfer them to a container or jar for future use.
To store cooked tapioca pearls, place them on a container with lid and add sugar syrup or water to cover. Refrigerate for up to 3 days. For longer storage, place them in a Ziplock bag and remove as much air as you can, then freeze.
Just add them to boiling water and reheat for 5 minutes when ready to use.
Use only tapioca starch/flour or sometimes called cassava starch, but not cassava flour, cornstarch, nor regular flour.
Using room temperature water will not work! It has to be boiling hot, directly from the pot/kettle of boiling water would be best. Once the hot water is added to the tapioca starch, it will cook the part it touches that will turn into transparent slime in seconds. This will act as a paste while you fold in the rest of the starch to make the dough.
If you get a oobleck, it means the water was not boiling hot.
If the dough is too crumbly and won’t form, then water was not enough. Like I said it could be that the starch you got absorbs more liquid than others. Do this instead: Initially use only 2:1 ratio to make the dough, it might be too soft and sticky then just add a bit more of tapioca starch until you get a play-dough consistency.
You can skip the food color and have plain transparent balls instead. You can also add dark brown sugar to the water and boil them together and use that to make brown balls.
How to Make Homemade Boba (Tapioca Pearls)
Published: May 4, 2021 · Modified: Jan 24, 2022 · This post may contain affiliate links. Please read our disclosure policy.
Want to learn how to make homemade boba from scratch? Now you can! These warm, chewy, boba pearls coated with delicious deep brown caramelized sugar will light up your tastebuds and instantly elevate your teas or desserts.
Homemade boba with brown sugar syrup is a classic boba topping that compliments any sweet drink.
I cannot go an entire week without drinking boba tea. Some may say I have an addiction, but it is one I do not want to stop. Recently, Boba Guys made an announcement that the United States faced a boba shortage and I panicked. What will I do without my boba fix.
Great news, this boba addict over here carefully crafted a homemade boba recipe so that you can create this delectable treat in your very own home! No need to fear any boba shortage! You can add these boba pearls to make a classic brown sugar milk tea, mango matcha latte, or a strawberry matcha latte. You can top off some sweet cakes, ice cream, and desserts with these homemade boba pearls.
🔍 What is Boba?
The word «boba» refers to a category of drinks that includes everything from iced tea with tapioca pearls to fresh juice infused with fruity bits or simply the tapioca pearls themselves. Boba tea, bubble tea, pearl milk tea are all different names for the same thing. The drink in its most basic form consists of black or green tea, milk, ice, tapioca pearls, shaken with ice, and served with a fat straw to slurp up the chewy boba pearls.
The boba pearls are made from tapioca starch, an extract from the South American cassava plant which came to Taiwan from Brazil via Southeast Asia during the period of Japanese rule between 1895 and 1945. The drink originated in Taiwan in the 1980s and became popular in the U.S. in the 1990s
To us, boba tea is more than a drink—it’s a lifestyle. It’s hanging out with our friends when we’re not studying or playing the piano. It’s bringing our non-Asian friends to boba shops and them loving it too. Boba creates shared memories and bridges cultures. Drinking boba fills our hearts and stomachs in more ways than one. Now with this recipe, you can make homemade boba and create more beautiful memories at home!
Brown sugar boba has grown in popularity and can now be found featured in drinks, desserts, and frozen treats.
🛒 Ingredients for This Recipe
This recipe only requires 3 ingredients—tapioca starch, sugar and water all of which you can find at your local grocery store or online.
Tapioca Starch: tapioca starch is what gives the boba its chewy texture. Tapioca starch is made from the crushed pulp of a cassava root, a woody shrub native to South America and the Caribbean. It is gluten-free, has a neutral flavor, and is primarily used as a thickening agent. There are multiple brands of tapioca starches out there. I use the Erawan brand tapioca starch I bought at the Asian grocery market, but recently I’ve discovered that Bob’s Red Mill’s Tapioca Flour is the same as Tapioca Starch. But beware not all brands’ Tapioca Flour can be substituted as Tapioca Starch.
Make sure to read the ingredients to ensure the tapioca product is in fact tapioca starch.
Muscovado sugar or dark brown sugar: the sugar adds a deep brown color to the tapioca pearls. You can find muscovado sugar online here or at your nearest Wholefoods.
Water: the water combines the tapioca starch and sugar together forming the dough.
💭 What is the difference between Muscovado Sugar and Brown Sugar?
Brown sugar is refined white sugar with molasses added back to it. Whereas, muscovado sugar is less refined, so it retains more of its molasses component. The darker the sugar, the more molasses it contains. The main difference between the two is taste. Muscovado contains a deeper complexity of flavors, specifically with more pronounced caramel and toffee notes. When you are creating a recipe with only three ingredients and the sugar is the star, it’s crucial that you use the best flavored and quality ingredients out there.
On the left: dark brown sugar. On the right: Dark muscovado sugar with it’s deeper and more complex sweetness.
📝 How to Make Homemade Brown Sugar Boba
1. Make the dough: In a mixing bowl, sift the tapioca starch and make sure no large lumps remain.
2. Pour the water and sugar into a small pot or saucepan and mix to dissolve the sugar.
First dissolve the sugar in a small sauce pan.
Then turn on the stove to medium heat and bring it to a boil and cover with a lid to prevent the moisture from leaving. The second it begins to boil, turn the heat to low and carefully pour the tapioca starch into the pot.
Carefully pour in your tapioca starch.
Using a firm spatula, immediately stir the pot until everything is evenly mixed and a sticky brown dough forms about 5-7 seconds.
Even mix in the tapioca starch.
3. Once incorporated, turn off the heat and add the remaining tapioca starch and mix quickly until incorporated. Take out the dough and knead the dough on a tapioca flour-dusted surface. It may be crumbly at first but as you knead the dough it will form together. Speed is your friend here.
The mixed dough right out of the pan will need attention and kneading quick to finalize the dough.
I. Option 1: Form the pearls using a wire cooling rack
I have included two different options in this recipe on how to shape the pearls efficiently. Personally, I love using the wire cooling rack method because it saves so much time.
4. Form the dough into pearls. Roll out the dough into a 1 cm thick disc.
The boba grid wire rack trick creates several little cubes of boba dough at once.
Then using a grid wire rack take a rolling pin and roll the dough on the grid, smushing the dough through the rack forming small squares.
Simply roll the dough over the metal grid to press it through into little cubes.
Use your fingers to push through any remaining dough.
If the dough sticks to the rack lightly assist them by popping them through completely.
Then roll the pearls into circles and coat them with tapioca starch to prevent them from sticking.
II. Option 2: Form the pearls individually
4. Form the dough into pearls. Scrape the dough out onto a clean work surface, and split it into three equal portions. The dough will be a little sticky to start with but should get easier to handle as it cools slightly. (If it’s still super sticky, knead in 1 tablespoon of more tapioca starch.) Take one of the doughs, and cover the rest with plastic wrap to prevent them from drying. Then, roll out the piece you have into a long rope, roughly ¼-inch thick.
The traditional homemade boba technique rolls out the dough into a long rope before cutting.
Using a bench scraper, cut the rope into ¼-inch pieces.
Even slice the rope into your boba pieces.
Roll each piece of dough with the palms of your hands and shape it into mini spheres.
Lightly dust the pieces before rolling in your palms to form a sphere aka boba pearl.
After you roll each ball, coat them with tapioca starch to prevent them from sticking.
The flour helps to keep the boba pearls from sticking together as you roll the remaining pieces.
Repeat until you’ve rolled out all the dough.
5. Cooking the boba: Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add in the tapioca pearls, and keep the water on a rolling boil for 20-25 minutes until the boba is cooked through. Stir quickly, in the beginning, to prevent the pearls from sticking until they begin to float then you only need to stir the pot once every few minutes.
As the boba pearls cook through they will begin to float to the surface and become more plump.
Once the pearls are cooked, drain the water and transfer them into a bowl of ice water to stop the cooking process and firm up slightly.
Naturally the boba pearls will be a slightly dark brown after they’re cooked and drained.
6. Caramelizing the boba: To make the caramelizing syrup, mix the water and muscovado sugar in a small pot, and bring to a boil.
Caramelizing the brown sugar syrup with the boba helps give them a much richer flavor than simply soaking in syrup.
Add in the chilled tapioca pearls, and simmer the boba for 20 minutes until thick and syrupy.
The brown sugar syrup will thicken giving you a satisfying homemade brown sugar boba topping.
7. Serve with your favorite tea or dessert!
⭐️ Tips for This Recipe
🥡 Storage Instructions
These homemade boba pearls are best served immediately. But, you can package the uncooked homemade boba pearls in air-tight vacuum-sealed bags and freeze them.
🧋 How to serve warm brown sugar boba?
Serve this homemade boba with your favorite tea drink of course! Take a look at some of our favorites.
💕 More tasty treats to pair with
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How to Make Boba, aka. Tapioca Pearls, From Scratch
Store bought tapioca pearls can be tricky to cook. That’s why I’ll show you how to make boba from scratch at home for homemade bubble tea. It doesn’t take long to prepare them, and they’re so much better than dried tapioca pearls found in stores.
In the middle of the summer heat, you may have noticed that I haven’t been posting as often lately. In part it’s due to my new philosophy of blogging. In part it’s due to having my son home for the summer, and him wanting to play with me most of the day. (I can’t be complaining about having to play in the pool and cuddle up with a sweet, adorable little 5 year old, can I?)
Mostly, though, it’s due to me not being completely caught up from my trip to the US a few weeks back. Amidst the fiestas here in my town, lots of birthday parties and being a full time mommy, it’s taking me longer than I expected to get back into the swing of things.
The first week of our adventures in the US, we stayed at my dad’s house in Connecticut, not too far away from good old New York, New York.
Most of that week was pretty relaxed, but we did manage to throw in a fun day of exploring NYC which included a delicious meal in Chinatown. I had been to NYC as a kid, but don’t remember ever visiting Chinatown, so it was a new, fun adventure for me. I loved marveling at the Asian style architecture of normally American styled places like Starbucks, and if I hadn’t been trying to travel lightly while walking the city, I probably would have bought a few kilos of Asian fruits like lychees, mangosteen, dragon fruits… all of the fun fruits that I can rarely (if ever) find here in Spain.
Another delicacy that I wasn’t able to try was boba bubble tea.
After our meal, I eyed the bubble tea for sale at the shop across the street, and hinted at perhaps going over to get some dessert. Normally I don’t go for buying specialty teas and coffees outside the house because I know they’ll be sugar-laden and definitely not paleo. 😉 How often am I going to get the chance to try bubble tea made in Chinatown Manhattan, though, right?
Unfortunately, everybody else was full, except for my boring practical husband who had no interest in trying something as absurd as bubble tea, so in the interest of not drinking alone, I decided to pass and never got to try bubble tea before heading on towards Times Square and Central Park.
Fast forward a few weeks, and I was hanging out at the Asian store here in Spain, browsing all the fun, unusual treats the shop had to offer, and I saw tapioca pearls for sale. I couldn’t help but buy some to make boba at home so that I could try to make homemade bubble tea.
The problem with store bought tapioca pearls
Unfortunately, despite having watched numerous videos and reading numerous blogs about how to cook the darn things, I couldn’t get the store bought boba to cook right!
After some research, I’ve found that it’s probably because the people who have the most success with store bought boba use tapioca pearls that have been sealed in shrink wrap and that need to be stored in the fridge and used up within a week once opened. I’m guessing those are packaged without being completely dehydrated, making their reconstitution easier later on. I have only been able to find the fully dried tapioca pearls here, though.
I tried everything from…
pre-soaking the pearls… which ended in a tapioca starch water and powdery mess…
bringing the water to a boil with the boba tapioca pearls already in the pan… which ended up with a gluey mess and no pearls to be seen…
boiling the water and then adding the boba…which, despite boiling for over an hour ended up with rubbery, transparent balls with an opaque, raw, hard, tapioca flour center. Yuck!
The only thing that sort of worked was to boil for very long periods, followed by very long periods of cooling, usually followed by boiling and cooling again at least once more. Even the boba that almost cooked all the way through (see the picture below) weren’t very appealing, and I decided to give up on making homemade bubble tea!
The tapioca pearls that I bought showed only 2 ingredients: tapioca starch and water.
Making tapioca pearls/boba from scratch
Making boba from scratch can’t be that difficult, right?
I thought about how I used to always make pasta from scratch. People used to think I was crazy when they heard that I always made my own pasta from scratch.
Doesn’t that take forever?
Well, actually, no!
Apart from the clean up, it took me about the same amount of time to make homemade pasta as it did for me to boil the store bought stuff. Plus, mine was just so much better and fully customizable!
Why is homemade pasta and boba so quick to make?
Faster cooking time
Because store bought pasta has been dehydrated so that it will keep for longer. Boiling it to cook it takes much longer than cooking the pasta that you have freshly made.
I no longer make homemade pasta very often; not because it takes too long, or because it’s not great, but because most of the time I have completely eliminated gluten from my diet. I have tried coming up with gluten free and grain free pasta recipes, but so far the closest I’ve come to a paleo pasta is the dough I used in my paleo dim sum recipe. (It actually tastes very similar to pasta, and has a similar texture once cooked, it’s just a lot more delicate to work with so it’s not as practical for making something like spaghetti.)
My logic, though, was that homemade boba tapioca pearls would cook similarly. Because they are fresh and haven’t been dehydrated, they would cook up almost immediately.
And I was right!
It took me less time to make boba tapioca pearls from scratch than it did for me to try to cook the store bought boba!
It’s super quick and easy to make, and it’s actually even kind of fun.
Plus it uses only 2 ingredients, tapioca starch and water, so it’s gluten free, grain free, and, thus, arguably paleo. 🙂
After me having thrown out some of his dried up, unusable playdough, my son was only too happy to help make little tapioca pearls too. Win-win!
(I may or may not have actually used his.) 😉