Boba Milk Tea

Ingredients

• 100 g brown sugar
• 100 g tapioca flour
• 5 x black tea in a bag
• 6 dl water
• 4 dl milk
• 75 g sugar
• 4 handful ice cubes
• 75 g water

Method

1. Melt half of the brown sugar, water and a little black food coloring (if you like you can skip food coloring) together over medium heat until the sugar has dissolved. Add 1 tablespoon (for 4 servings) of tapioca starch to the mixture and stir it well, while it cooks for approx. 2–3 minutes (time may vary according to different ovens).
2. The mixture should be thick and chewy, and you should be able to draw a straight line with a spatula in the center of the pan, without the mixture pulling back.
3. Then turn off the heat and add the rest of the tapioca starch. Stir well with the spatula or turn it out on the kitchen counter, and take some time to knead everything together until you get a smooth, smooth and soft dough.
4. Wrap the dough in a bag, so that it stays soft and warm. Take out ¼ at a time and roll into two long sausages of approx. 0.75 cm in thickness. Put the two together next to each other, and cut them into small cubes.
5. They should be smaller than pre-cooked pearls, as they swell a bit during cooking. To prevent the dough to become difficult to work with, use short time at this step. A helping hand would be great preparing the pearls.
6. To a bowl add 1.5 tablespoons of tapioca starch (for 4 servings) and place the balls in the starch. Shake well so that all are coated. If the dough becomes dry while working, moisten the pearls with your fingers with water.
7. Boil 2 liters of water. The pot or saucepan should be large enough for all the pearls to fit in one layer. When the water boils, add the pearls and stir so that they don't stick to each other.
8. When all the pearls float to the surface, turn the heat down to medium-high and let them cook for 20 minutes. Stir regularly so they don't stick.
9. Prepare the tea: Add the tea bags to a bowl and add boiling water. Let it soak for approx. 3 minutes, add milk and taste with sugar. Mix well and let it cool. This can also be made a day in advance.
10. After 20 minutes, turn off the heat and add a lid. Leave the pot for 20 minutes without removing it. Then strain off the water and pour the cooked boba pearls into a bowl. Sprinkle over the rest of the brown sugar and mix well.
11. Allow the sugar to steep for 5–10 min before serving. The beads can stand for a few hours, so they can also be made ready earlier the same day.
12. Combine boba pearls, ice cubes and tea in glasses, and stir so that the drink is really cold when served.