Homemade Organic Passion Fruit Bubble Tea

Homemade Passion Fruit Bubble Tea

2 Servings | 2 hr prep | 30 mins | Intermediate 

Ingredients

Tapioca Pearls

• 135g of organic tapioca starch + a bit more for adjustment and coating
• 90g water
• 60g brown sugar
• 200g coconut flower nectar

Tea

• 2-3 servings green tea (approx 1-2 tbsp loose leaf per serving)
• Juice of 1-2 passion fruits 
• 500g water
• Optional: Ice

Equipment

• a pot
• cups
• knife/ scraper
• plastic wrap
• plate
• strainer

Directions

Tapioca Pearls - ** quick hands **

1. Heat water in pot until boiling, turn the heat down and add the sugar. 
2. Once all the sugar is dissolved, add about 1/2 of the tapioca starch into the pot and mix vigorously within 10 secs. 
3. Turn off the heat and add the rest of the tapioca start. Mix vigorously until all incorporated
4. Generously sprinkle excess tapioca flour onto your workspace, plate and hands
5. Transfer the tapioca dough onto the workspace and begin kneading. Reapply tapioca flour to surfaces as needed. You may use a spoon or scraper to help you knead.
6. Knead until the dough is smooth. 
7. Divide into 4 portions, working with one portion at a time. Use plastic wrap to snuggly cover the unused portions. 
8. Roll one portion into a long log about 1.5cm in diameter. Use a knife or scraper to cut into small cubes.
9. Quickly roll each cube into pearls and transfer onto the flour covered plate. Swirl the plate around gently to ensure the tapioca pearls are covered in flour and won't stick to each other
10. Repeat steps 8 and 9 until all the tapioca dough has been used
11. Shift the excess flour from the tapioca pearls and store any unused portions in ziplock bags or air-tight containers and keep in the freezer.
12. Ready a pot with water 6 times the volume of the pearls you will make. Bring to a boil.
13. Gently drop the pearls in and cook for 20-30 mins or until translucent and soft. Test for doneness.
14. Once the tapioca pearls are done, strain the pearls and add them into a container and pour coconut flower nectar until all the pearls are covered. Soak for at least 30 mins. Prepare tea. 

Tea

1. Add tea leaves and water into a pot and bring to a boil. Turn heat down and simmer for 4-5 mins. 
2. Once the tea has been made, strain away the tea leaves and pour the tea into two cups
3. Add the juice of passion fruit into the cups, adjust until you are satisfied.
4. Spoon in syrup and tapioca pearls to your liking.
5. Enjoy!

Troubleshooting and Modifications

• The best thing about fruit teas is that it is completely customizable. I used passion fruit, but you can substitute it with grapefruit, orange, mango, strawberry, or anything you want! Go wild!

• Cooked Tapioca should be soft and chewy, not crumbly
• Dough Hydration is greatly affected by humidity, which may result in your dough being drier or stickier. Work with the dough by adding more flour or water until you reach the consistency of bread dough or soft taffy.
• Tapioca dough becomes crumbly and hard to mould once it cools down. Keep the dough moist and malleable by using a warm water bath or a steamer. 
• If you want to create different coloured pearls, you may substitute the brown sugar with natural food colouring such as freeze-dried fruit powder, hibiscus flower, matcha powder, etc. Beware that this may alter the flavour of the pearls. Add this in during the kneading process and soak the pearls for longer in the nectar so they can have more flavour. 
• The pearls are placed in nectar to prevent sticking and to add flavour. This is important to do as quickly as possible as the pearls will stick to each other once cooled

 Attributions Photo by J. Remus on Unsplash