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    Home » Recipes » Hello

    How to Make Boba Pearls at Home

    April 18, 2020 by Elaine 131 Comments | Jump to Recipe

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    Learn how to make boba pearls with this simple tutorial with nature ingredients at home. Caution firstly, this is a time-consuming recipe due to the long time rounding process. Make this in your leisure time for example during watching TV. To make this chewy small balls, we only need three ingredients, brown sugar or dark brown sugar , tapioca starch and water. Sound quite easy and healthy.

    Homemade boba pearls|chinasichuanfood.com

    You can use this homemade boba pearls to make a traditional Chinese style boba milk tea. My mom always complains milk tea brings her insomnia because of the tea included. And this is her new way of enjoying boba in milk -- only using brown sugar syrup for flavoring. This is also a new star Chinese boba drinking on street.

    Homemade boba pearls|chinasichuanfood.com
    Homemade boba with milk |chinasichuanfood.com

    Cook’s Note

    1. Tapioca starch is the most commonly used option for chewy boba pearls. In Chinese, it is called as "木薯淀粉".  You can get is from amazon. Currently I have never tried other type.
    2. Making part of the tapioca starch gelatinization is the best way of holding all the flour together and form a dough for further steps.   I get several failure report for this one, mainly caused by the over gelatinization or lack of gelatinization.
    3. If the starch is added directly to the boiling water or cold water, then we get a thing named as non-Newtonian fluid and can't from a dough. So we add part of the starch in for the gelatinization.  However if the starch is over heated or cooked, the pearls can't hold the round shape and chewy texture after cooked.  Becomes quite soft and shapeless. So please follow the steps exactly. I highly suggest watching the video and reading the recipe before starting since we do't get too much time for thinking during the process.
    4. The cooked pearls should be used within hours. If you want to use next time, freeze them after the shaping.
    Homemade boba pearls|chinasichuanfood.com

    Steps

    In a small pot, slightly warm the water and dissolve brown sugar (or dark brown sugar).  Let the liquid boil completely over slowest fire. Adding a cover can help to avoid too much water lost.  Add ½ of the tapioca starch in and mix well (count: 6-7 seconds). Remove from heat for electric stove or turn off fire, then add the remaining tapioca starch and continue mixing until gathered. Be quick during this process.

    Homemade boba pearls|chinasichuanfood.com

    Place the remaining flour on an operation board. Transfer the smooth paste in and knead into a dough with the help of a scraper blade. At first, it might be slightly sticky. Slightly dust the board during the kneading process until it becomes smooth, not sticky any more but still soft.  Divide the dough into four parts and then shape one portion into thin and long log. Cut into small cubes.

    Homemade boba pearls|chinasichuanfood.com
    Homemade boba pearls|chinasichuanfood.com

    Round each small squares to small balls (be patient and do not require prefect roundness). You can simple skip this process and save your self lots of time if you get no requirement for the shape.  Longer shaping will make the balls more stable after boiled.

    Homemade boba|chinasichuanfood.com
    how to make boba at home|chinasichuanfood.com

    In a large plate, spread some flour and coat each ball with enough flour to avoid sticking to each other. Then shift the extra starch off. You can now package in air-tight bags and freeze for later use.

    how to make boba pearls at home|chinasichuanfood.com
    boba milk|chinasichuanfood.com

    How to make a brown sugar boba drink| in a small pot, melt 1 slice of brown sugar slab and 1cup brown sugar with 100ml water in a small pot. Simmer until melted. Set aside to cool down.

    Homemade boba|chinasichuanfood.com

    How to cook the boba pearls| bring a large pot of water (at least 6 times of the volume of the pearls) and cook the pears for 20 to 30 minutes. Then transfer the balls into a cold water (they shrink to original size immediately).  Drain and mix with 2 tablespoons of brown sugar syrup or honey to avoid sticky together.

    How to assemble homemade boba milk|Chinasichuanfood.com

    How to assemble| drizzle some brown sugar syrup in serving cup, rotate the cup so the syrup can form marbles on the cup wall. Place boba pearls in. Pour in milk. Shake or stirring before enjoy.

    Homemade boba with milk |chinasichuanfood.com
    how to make boba at home|chinasichuanfood.com

    How to Make Boba Pearls at Home

    Homemade boba pearls
    5 from 15 votes
    Print Pin Rate
    Prep Time: 1 day 40 minutes
    Cook Time: 30 minutes
    Total Time: 1 hour 10 minutes
    Servings: 6
    Calories: 393kcal

    Ingredients

    For boba pearls

    • 1 cup around 135g tapioca starch , + 2 tbsp. more for adjusting and coating
    • 6 tbsp. water 90ml
    • 60 g brown sugar

    Serving

    • 4 cups milk

    Brown sugar syrup

    • 1 cup brown sugar
    • 1 brown sugar slab , around 70g (can be replaced by brown sugar too)
    • 100 ml water ⅓ cup + 1.5 tbsp.

    Instructions

    Make boba pearls

    • In a small pot, slightly heat the water and dissolve brown sugar over slowest fire (to avoid too much water lost). Make sure the sugar is dissolved. Heat the liquid to a boiling and then use slowest fire. Now, add ½ of the tapioca starch in and mix quickly (Count 6 to 7seconds). Turn off the fire or remove from fire and add the remaining ½ of the tapioca starch. Mix until gathered. Quick during the process.
    • Place the remaining flour on an operation board. Transfer the smooth paste in and knead into a dough with the help of a scraper blade. At first, it might be slightly sticky. Continue kneading until smooth. Be quick during the process. The dough becomes hard to control when cool down completely.
    • Divide the dough into 4 portions. Remember to cover the other three with plastic bag. Then shape one portion into a long log (around 1.5 cm in diameter), cut the log into small cubes.
    • Round each small squares to small balls (be patient and do not require prefect roundness).
    • In a large plate, spread some flour and coat each ball with enough flour to avoid sticking to each other. After finish all of the pearls, shift the extra flour off. You can now package in air-tight bags and freeze for later use.

    Sugar Syrup

    • In a small pot, melt 2 slices of brown sugar slab and 1cup brown sugar with 100ml water in a small pot. Heat until there are large bubbles. Or you can simply use brown sugar syrup.

    How to cook the boba pearls

    • Bring a large pot of water (at least 6 times of the volume of the pearls) and cook the pears for 20 to 30 minutes. Then transfer the balls into a cold water (they shrink to original size immediately). Wash under running water. Drain and mix with 2 tablespoons of brown sugar syrup or honey (or sugar) to avoid sticky together.

    How to assemble

    • Drizzle some brown sugar syrup in serving cup, rotate the cup so the syrup can form marbles on the cup wall. Place boba pearls in. Pour in milk. Shake or stirring before enjoy.

    Video

    Notes

    Recipe firstly published in 2019 and updated with video in 2020. 

    Nutrition

    Calories: 393kcal | Carbohydrates: 75g | Protein: 8g | Fat: 8g | Saturated Fat: 5g | Cholesterol: 24mg | Sodium: 120mg | Potassium: 384mg | Sugar: 58g | Vitamin A: 395IU | Calcium: 314mg | Iron: 0.6mg
    how to make boba at home|chinasichuanfood.com
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    Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. Liz

      June 17, 2022 at 6:19 am

      Is it possible to substitute the tapioca starch with another ingredient?

      Reply
      • Elaine

        June 17, 2022 at 7:22 am

        You can try sweet potato starch. But the texture will be less chewier.

        Reply
    2. Donald

      August 14, 2022 at 11:45 am

      5 stars
      Thank you so much for such an informative text and video.
      I tried your recipe and it was perfect even on the first try.
      Is there anyway to make this recipe with four times the amount as your stated recipe?

      Reply
      • Elaine

        August 15, 2022 at 10:08 pm

        Donald,
        Thanks so much for your lovely feedback.
        I recommend you making small dough once because the texture changes very quickly. The dough will dry very quickly unless you get helper to shape them. But you can try to double the ingredients. 4 times seems too much!

        Reply
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