Brown Sugar Bubble Tea (Boba)
Making your own tapioca pearls from scratch means controlling exactly how chewy they get - these braise for 20 minutes in muscovado syrup until they taste like pure caramel. The tiger stripes aren't just aesthetic; that thick syrup sliding down the glass is where all the brown sugar flavor concentrates.
Ingredients
For the Milk Tea
- 6 cups whole milk
- 6 English Breakfast tea bags
- 1/3 cup dark brown sugar packed
For the Tapioca Pearls
- 1/4 cup water
- 1/4 cup muscovado sugar packed
- 1 cup tapioca starch plus more for dusting
- 1/4 tsp kosher salt
For the Braising Syrup
- 1 1/2 cups water
- 1 cup muscovado sugar packed
- 1/4 tsp kosher salt
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
Instructions
- Heat milk, tea bags, and brown sugar until steaming. Steep 15-20 minutes, strain, and refrigerate.
- Boil water and muscovado sugar in small pot. Add tapioca starch and salt, stir until dough forms. Cook 3-5 minutes.
- Transfer dough to counter, divide into 4 portions.
- Roll each portion into 1/4-inch rope, cut into 1/4-inch pieces. Roll pieces into balls, dust with tapioca starch.
- Boil pearls in water 20 minutes, transfer to ice water.
- Make braising syrup: boil water, muscovado sugar, and salt. Add drained pearls, simmer 20-25 minutes until syrup thickens. Stir in vanilla.
- Spoon warm pearls into tilted glass, coating sides.
- Add ice and cold milk tea.
Notes
Serve immediately while pearls are warm. Pearls are best consumed within 4 hours of cooking.
Did you make this recipe?Let me know how you liked it below!