Homemade Boba Tapioca Pearls for Bubble Tea from Scratch
Lollicup. 85ºC. Ding Tea. Boba Tea House. Leena’s Kitchen.
In the 20 years I've been drinking boba (also known as bubble tea), I haven't once attempted to make the boba myself. I knew they were, like, tapioca balls, and I knew I could purchase packs of pre-made boba, but I never bothered.
Until now.
I figured out how to make crystal clear boba from scratch. No visits to a niche shop or any obscure ingredients, even. I kept it VERY minimal with simply two ingredients and technically an optional third (sweetener).
These tapioca pearls are NOT inherently sweet; you have to soak them in sweetener. Traditionally the dough for the boba balls is sweetened, but I'm saving that for another video once I perfect the ratio/recipe and color.
Tapioca Starch + Water
That’s all you need. Let’s get into it!
Ingredients
This is what they look like when you mix brown sugar or honey into the dough.
½ cup tapioca starch
¼ cup hot water
Recipe
Measure out the tapioca starch into a large bowl.
Heat up the water and carefully pour half of it into the starch. Begin mixing with a big spoon in flicky motions.
Add more of the hot water, as needed. Do not add too much water all at once or else you will end up with a mixture similar to that one cornstarch science experiment from elementary school. Is it liquid? Is it solid? Is it boba?
Mix as best you can with the spoon, then use your hand. Knead the dough until it’s completely mixed through and develops a smooth texture; we don’t want any chunky pieces of dry flour/starch.
Roll the dough into two even balls. Then roll each ball into a long rope. I recommend cutting the rope in half and rolling into a thinner rope until you get it to a thickness that’s appropriate for boba. I recommend 3/8 inch thick.
Now cut each of the ropes into several 1/2 inch pieces, then roll each of these pieces into a smaller ball. We want the cooked/swollen boba to be no larger than a half inch; thus the uncooked balls of dough will be smaller.
Once you’ve formed all of the tapioca pearls, feel free to sprinkle loose tapioca starch over them to help form a slight coating of flour which will prevent them from sticking to each other. As you can see in my video demonstration, my boba didn’t get sticky.
Get a pot of water on the stove. If you are cooking all of the boba you made (~3 servings) then use 3 cups of water. Once it begins to boil, add the boba to the pot. Adjust the heat on the stove so that the water keeps simmering or lightly boiling. I cook the boba for 20-30min because I prefer my boba to be a bit softer and chewier rather than chewy-solid on the inside. I’m convinced it tastes fresher if it’s softer/more cooked through (even though we obviously just made the boba). It is safe to eat the boba even when the center is more solid, though.
While the boba cooks, get a bowl ready with brown sugar (or whichever sweetener you prefer. I even tested date syrup and it wasn’t bad at all. Use your discretion!) Once the boba is cooked through, transfer the strained boba to the sweetener-bowl immediately so that it’ll soak up the sweetener as it cools.
After about 10-15min, go ahead and assemble your bubble tea drink(s)!
Enjoy!
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