Brown Sugar Bubble Milk Tea

Serving 4 pax
Preparation Time 1hr 20mins
Skill Intermediate
Ingredients

Milk Tea:
1.5L Milk
4 bags of Black tea
50g Light brown sugar
Ice Cubes

Tapioca Pearls:
65ml Water
45g Brown sugar (or muscovado sugar)
110g Tapioca starch (plus more for dusting)

Braising Syrup:
240ml Water
½ cup Brown sugar (or muscovado sugar)

Method
    • Milk tea:
      1. Add the milk, tea bags, and light brown sugar into a pot, and heat it up until the milk starts to steam.
      2. Let the tea bags steep in the hot milk for 15-20 minutes before taking them out.
      3. When the milk tea is cool enough, transfer it into a jug or bottle, and keep it in the refrigerator until it’s cold.
    • Tapioca pearls:
      1. Sift the tapioca starch and make sure no large lumps remain.
      2. Pour the water and brown sugar into a small pot or saucepan, and bring it to a boil.
      3. Stir and make sure all the sugar has melted, turn down the heat to low, and then pour the tapioca starch into the pot all at once.
      4. Stir the pot until everything is evenly mixed and a sticky brown dough forms.
      5. Cook this dough over very low heat for 3-5 minutes, stirring constantly to prevent the bottom from burning.
      6. Scrape the dough out onto a clean work surface, and split it into two or three roughly equal portions. Take one of the dough portions, and cover the rest with a cloth or kitchen towel to prevent them from drying out.
      7. Then, roll out the piece you have into a long string, roughly ¼-inch thick. Cut the string into ¼-inch pieces.
      8. Roll each little piece of dough in between the palms of your hands and shape it into little spherical balls.
      9. After you roll each ball, dust it in some tapioca starch to prevent it from sticking. Repeat until you’ve rolled out all the dough.
    • Cooking the pearls:
      1. Ready a large pot of water, and bring it to a boil. Add in the tapioca pearls, and keep the water on a rolling boil for 20 minutes until the pearls are cooked through.
      2. Stir hard in the beginning to prevent the pearls from sticking, but once they start to float, you only need to stir the pot once every few minutes.
      3. Once the pearls are cooked, transfer them into a bowl of ice water to stop the cooking process and firm up slightly.
    • Braising the pearls:
      1. To make the braising syrup, add the water and brown sugar in a small pot, and bring to a boil.
      2. Add in the chilled tapioca pearls, and turn the heat down to a slow simmer.
      3. Let the pearls braise for 20-25 minutes, until the braising liquid turns thick and syrupy. Keep it warm after it’s done cooking.
    • Serving:
      1. To serve, tilt the glass or cup at a 45° angle, and place the tapioca pearls close to the lip of the glass, letting them slide down to the base.
      2. Repeat this on all sides to get a trippy, tiger stripe-like ripple effect, then add the ice cubes and milk tea.

Recipe courtesy of Jun & Tonic

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