Due to the fact that our freezer is stuffed with actual food products, I am no longer able to house a 20 pound bag of ice. And since our refrigerator/freezer unit does not have an ice maker machine (and me manually filing the two ice trays doesn’t count), I will be putting a “freeze” on #icecreammakerwednesdays until space becomes available 😦 [By the way, this photo was taken after we disposed of some items allegedly owned by southern belle…she moved out three years ago D:]
Loose Thai Tea Leaves
Raw Tapiocal Pearls
Don’t fret though! In lieu of ice cream making, I will (hopefully) be making more interesting popsicle creations 😀 This week’s Flavor of the Weak is…Thai Tea with Boba! Currently I work part time at a local pan-Asian restaurant that not only serves hot food and sushi, but also whips up their own version of bubble or boba tea. Boba tea originates from Taiwan and is a combination of milk tea and “boba.” What is boba? Usually they are chewy, round, black, sweetened tapioca balls with a ½ inch diameter and can be found at the bottom of the drink. Boba tea is served with extra wide straws (compared to the normal soda straws) to allow for optimal drinkage. I wish I had some to photograph for you all, but unfortunately I ran out – which is how I ended up in this predicament…or should I say blessing in disguise 🙂
Besides taro milk tea, one of the most popular flavors of tea served at the restaurant I work at is Thai Tea. We use condensed milk in our creation, but some other cafés use half and half and sugar. Without sweetener or cream, thai tea is a black tea (that appears orange due to coloring) and tastes rather woody. I prefer Thai tea served cold, though it can be served hot, too, plus the added bonus, boba! At home, I don’t have any fancy cups or straws (anymore) to make my own tea, so I wanted to try making it without them but still be able to enjoy the refreshing flavor with boba!
Thai Tea Popsicles with Boba (makes 4 popsicles)
- water
- Thai tea leaves (loose)
- condensed milk
- fine mesh strainer
- white sugar
- brown sugar
- dry tapioca pearls
1. To make the tea, bring two cups of water to a boil in a small pot. Add 4 tablespoons of loose thai tea leaves into the pot, and let it steep for 10 minutes (off the heat).
2. Transfer the tea+leaves into a bowl using a fine mesh strainer to separate the tea from the leaves. You can discard the leaves at this point, and all the tea to cool to room temperature.
3. If you want to sweeten the tea (like I do,) add two tablespoons of condensed milk to the tea and stir until combined. You can add to taste.
Pre-Frozen
4. Meanwhile bring another pot of 3 cups of water to boil. Once the water comes to a boil, add a 1/3 cup of dry tapioca pearls. (I’m not really sure if there is a ratio, but you want to have space for the pearls to float on the surface.)
5. Once all of the pearls rise to the surface, reduce the heat to low-medium and cover the pot (slightly ajar) for 20 minutes – stirring occasionally. After 20 minutes is over, place the lid on the pot completely, remove from heat, and let stand for 30 minutes.
6. While your pearls are sitting off the heat, prepare the syrup – you can skip this step if you do not want to sweeten your boba. In a ratio of 2:1:1 (water:white sugar:brown sugar), create a simple syrup in a bowl. I used a microwave to ease the solubility.
7. Once your boba is done cooking completely, drain the water from the pot, and add them to the syrup. Let them sit for 5-10 minutes.
8. To make the popsicles, I added 2 tablespoons (or however much you’d like) of the pearls into each mold. Then I filled the rest of the mold with tea, and froze over night.
Look the pearls are still soft and chewy even after freezing over night!
❤ The Food Scientist
The Iron Chefs & Bakers of SASE 