Transcription
I'm super excited for today's video because we're going to be making a whole bunch of bubble tea recipes. So, bubble tea is a drink that originated in Taiwan, and it consists of a sweetened tea, some kind of milk, and then the best part, in my opinion, are these chewy tapioca pearls. If you can't find the pearls at your local grocery store, or if you don't love them, you can still make these drinks. They're perfect for the summer, they're incredibly refreshing. So, we're going to be making four flavors in total in today's video. Let's get started.
So, we're going to start with preparing the tapioca pearls first, and we just bought ours from our local Asian supermarket. It beats making it yourself at home, which can be a lot of work. And each of the drinks that we're going to be making today serves two people all together, but you can always scale that up or down with the scaling feature on our website, depending on how much you'd like to make. So, we're going to start with cooking about half of a cup of pearls according to the package instructions, which for us meant cooking it in boiling water for about six minutes. While that's cooking away, we're gonna make a simple syrup. And you can do this in two ways. The first is to add two tablespoons of brown sugar and two tablespoons of boiling water to a bowl, and then whisk it vigorously so that all the sugar dissolves. Then, when the pearls are cooked, we're gonna drain it, rinse it under cold water. This helps to stop the cooking process, and then we can add it to the jar with the syrup and give it all a stir. The syrup actually helps to keep the pearls from sticking together. So, traditionally, bubble tea is quite sweet. That's how it's supposed to be, but the benefit of making it yourself at home is that you get to decide how sweet you'd like yours to be. So, ours are actually much less sweet than what you would normally buy if you're getting it at a shop, but you can always taste test it later and add more if you'd like to. The second way to sweeten the pearls is just to add the drained and rinsed pearls to a bowl, and then you can add some maple or agave syrup to it. And once you've stirred it through, it's ready to use. It's that simple.
All right, so now that we know how to make the pearls, let's explore making different bubble tea flavors. For the first recipe, we'll be making an ube flavored bubble tea. So, we're gonna start with making a simple black tea using about two tablespoons of loose leaf tea, or you could use a couple of tea bags if you'd prefer. I personally love the bergamot flavor that's in Earl Grey tea, so that's what I'm using here, but feel free to use just a regular black tea if you prefer. Then we're going to pour over top of it about a cup of boiling water, and then let this sit to steep for about five minutes. So, ube is a purple yam, and it has a very delicious, distinct flavor. It's very commonly used in desserts in Filipino cuisine. So, we actually just have this ube spread that we got from our local Asian supermarket. It's kind of like a jam, but if it's easier for you to access something like pureed ube that you might find in your freezer section, or powdered ube, feel free to use those instead. So, we're going to scoop up about a quarter of a cup of the ube spread, and we're going to add it to a bowl, and then we're going to mix it together with a small splash of plant milk, just to thin it out a little bit. And now we can already assemble our drinks. So, we're going to be using the maple syrup sweetened pearls this time, adding it to our cups, and then we're going to top it with the ube spread. We're then going to pile high a bunch of ice, and then we can pour our unsweetened plant milk over top of that. We're using soy milk here, and then finally, we're going to pour the tea on the top. The sweetness of ube paste can actually vary quite a bit from brand to brand, so consider adding a little bit less to start, and you can always add more later if you'd like the taste to be more prominent, or if you'd like it to be more sweet. And once you're ready, just give it all a swirl to combine the layers, and you're ready to enjoy it.
So, this next bubble tea that we're making is inspired by Thai iced teas. So, Thai iced teas are known for their vibrant orange color, which comes from a food coloring that's added to the tea. We're not going to add any food coloring. What we're going to do instead is we're going to add some rooibos tea leaves because this already has its own natural orange color. So, to a saucepan, we're gonna add a cup of water, and then a tablespoon each of loose rooibos tea leaves and black tea leaves, but you could just use tea bags if you'd prefer. And then we're gonna add the spices, which is two each of star anise and anise. I honestly still don't know how to say it. Two whole cloves and two cracked cardamom pods as well. This is gonna give the tea a delicious flavor. And then once it starts to boil, we're gonna actually just remove it from the heat, cover it, and let it sit for about an hour to steep. Once the tea is done steeping, we're gonna place a sieve over top of the jar, and then we're gonna strain the tea into the jar, removing all of those leaves and the spices. Then we can add a teaspoon of vanilla extract and stir this through. And now we can start to assemble our drink. So, we're going to add a little bit of optional sweetened condensed coconut milk to each cup. This is also what makes it taste like it's Thai inspired. And then we're going to scoop some of the brown sugar coated pearls into each glass. Fill the cups with plenty of ice, and we'll follow this up with a cup of your favorite plant-based milk. We're using barista oat milk here for its thick and creamy texture, and then finally, we're gonna pour the tea over top of it.
This bubble tea is so incredibly tasty. The sweetened condensed coconut milk, you can always add a little bit more if you want it more sweet, or you could leave it out altogether. Again, it's optional. I think of all of the drinks, this one might be my favorite. Yeah.
For this next recipe, we'll be making this beautifully layered brown sugar matcha boba. We'll start with sifting about two teaspoons of premium grade matcha into a bowl, and then we're gonna add some hot but not boiling water over top of it. Then we're gonna whisk it until it starts to foam a little bit. Then we're gonna add a teaspoon of vanilla extract to the matcha, and then we're going to whisk it one more time. That's pretty much all we have to do. Now we're ready to assemble our drinks. So, in this case, we're going to be using the brown sugar pearls, and then after that, by now, you know the drill. We're going to top those with plenty of ice before we pour the milk over top of it. We're using some barista oat milk here, and then finally, we'll pour over the matcha. So, one little tip, if you want to keep your bubble tea in these beautiful distinct little layers, try to aim your matcha to hit the top of an ice cube. That just helps to break its fall, or you could pour it onto the back of a spoon hovering just on top of the milk. That should keep the layer separated. Matcha tastes quite earthy, so coating the chewy pearls in a brown sugar syrup really balances the flavors incredibly nicely. If you're someone who hasn't warmed up to the idea of matcha yet, I definitely recommend trying it iced. I feel like it mellows out the earthiness, makes it taste so much more fresh.
For the final recipe, we're making a strawberry milk bubble tea. Traditionally, bubble tea, as the name would suggest, it has some kind of tea in it, but sometimes when you go to the store and you buy the fruity variety, they leave the tea out, and that's also what we're going to do in this particular recipe. But if you do want to add some tea, of course, you're always welcome to. To a saucepan, we're going to add one and a half cups of frozen strawberries and a tablespoon of optional sugar. We're then going to cook this on medium heat until the strawberries have thawed out a little bit. Now, if you prefer, you can leave this chunky, just mash it a little bit with your spatula, or what I like to do at this point is to use an immersion blender just to puree the berries. Once it's pureed, we're going to set it aside to cool for a little bit while we prepare the milk. So, to a pitcher, I'm gonna add two thirds of a cup of unsweetened oat milk and two tablespoons of vegan whipping cream and a teaspoon of vanilla extract, and we're gonna mix this all together. Whenever you're ready to assemble the drinks, we're just gonna add some of the agave sweetened pearls to our cups. This time, we're going to follow it up with some of that beautiful pink strawberry puree. The ice goes in next, filling it right to the top of the cup, and then we're going to pour that creamy vanilla milk over top of it all. If you want to add some fresh strawberries as well for more fruitiness, you can definitely do that too. The strawberries make this taste incredibly summery, but because it uses frozen berries, it's a drink that you can make and enjoy all year round. And using the whipping cream here is optional, but it gives the milk a thicker and creamier texture that pairs so well with the strawberries. It even kind of makes it taste like it's a milkshake. Oh, that's really good.
If you don't have quick and easy access to bubble tea shops where you live, you are in for a real treat when you make these yourself at home. Where honestly, even if you do have access, it's fun tinkering and playing around with your own flavors. So, if you give the recipes in today's video a try, I hope you enjoy them. The full breakdown to all of them, as always, the links are in the description box below. And if you did enjoy today's video, feel free to give it a thumbs up. It always really means a lot when you do. And that's it for today, friends. Thanks so much for hanging with me. Pick up limes, signing off, and we'll see you in the next video. So, is a purple? It's not a sweet potato, actually. I think it's a yam. No, okay. So, ube.
All right, you all ready? Just starting. Okay, hold on. That's embarrassing. Okay, there we go. No, no, no, no, no. Oh, no. Oh, no. Well, shoot. Hey, little guy. Oh my god. I wish because you can't see how small it is. Look at that. He's so tiny. Oh, he's so close. Oh, and you pooped. Good job. And then add more or less depending.