Coconut Iced Coffee with Homemade Boba
Cold brew coconut iced coffee with (drum roll, please) homemade coffee-flavored boba. Yes, I made my own tapioca pearls - from scratch! And they taste every bit as good as the ones you get in bubble tea shops. I watched several how-to videos online and decided to give it a go. The recipe for coconut iced coffee has been shared in another blog post (I used cold brew this time). The procedure for the boba pearls, though fairly simple, is a bit time consuming. But it makes for a fun weekend project (you can even get the kids involved to help with the rolling) and the end result is worth the effort.
The level of satisfaction, when you pop that tapioca pearl into your mouth and bite into its perfectly chewy texture, is nothing short of immense. I hope I’ve encouraged some of you to try making them.
Recipe
Homemade Boba Pearls
(Makes about 85 large tapioca pearls, enough for three glasses of bubble tea/coffee)
Ingredients
3 tbsp boiling water (for coffee flavored boba, substitute this with hot brewed coffee)
2 tbsp coconut sugar (use brown sugar/jaggery if you prefer)
1/2 cup tapioca starch + more for rolling
Method
In a nonstick pan, heat the water/coffee and coconut sugar over medium-low heat, stirring until the sugar dissolves and the liquid starts to boil.
Stir in 1/4 cup of the tapioca flour and use a wooden spoon to mix well until it starts to leave the sides of the pan and come together (there will be small lumps of flour visible and that’s okay).
Turn off the heat, add the remaining 1/4 cup of tapioca flour and mix. Transfer to a clean surface and use your hands to mix until the dough comes together (dust the surface and your hands with a little tapioca flour to prevent it from sticking).
Knead the dough for 5 minutes until all the lumps are gone and you achieve a tacky play dough like consistency. Roll the dough into an 8” log/cylinder, cut it in half. Keep one half covered with a lightly damp kitchen towel and roll the other into a long cylinder (about 1/4” in diameter).
Using a knife, cut it into small, even bits and roll them into pea-sized balls. Transfer the balls to a bowl and sprinkle with a little tapioca flour to keep them from sticking. Repeat the process with the second cylinder of dough.
Once all the balls are rolled, bring 5 cups of water to a boil in a saucepan. Add the tapioca balls and give them a good stir. When they rise to the surface, lower the heat to medium-low and continue to cook the pearls for 15 minutes (stirring once or twice in between).
Turn off the heat, drain the pearls and transfer them to a bowl filled with ice water for a few minutes. They will change color (to a darker brown) and become chewy. Drain once more and add to a bowl. Add 2 tablespoons of either brown sugar/maple syrup/honey//jaggery/coconut sugar along with 1 tablespoon of water. Mix well and use as needed.
The boba balls are best used fresh, but they can last for 2-3 days in an airtight container in the refrigerator.
