What are the boba pearls?

Boba pearls are large tapioca pearls used as a topping for milk tea. They are not the same as small tapioca pearls. Although they are both made from tapioca starch, small pearls are usually used for desserts, and big boba pearls are used for boba tea. Small pearls are unsweetened and usually contain only tapioca starch. Big boba pearls contain additional ingredients and are available in many flavours. When making boba pearls for boba tea at home, you’ll need only 2 basic ingredients. 

What is hojicha?

Hojicha is a type of roasted Japanese green tea. Unlike other green teas, hojicha is brown and has a distinctive roasted flavour. It’s an amazing tea type for making iced teas or milky drinks and it’s as tasty when you make it the traditional way. Hojicha powder is not as popular as matcha tea powder, but it’s as versatile. You can use it for making lattes, pudding, add into cookies, or for making boba pearls. Hojicha powder is actually slightly easier to use than matcha powder. It won’t clump as much and you’ll need much less powder to achieve strong flavour and colour.

Hojicha Boba Pearls Recipe Ingredients

Hojicha tea powder: using hojicha tea powder will give a much nicer colour and flavour than using brewed hojicha tea. However, if you can find hojicha tea powder, you can replace it with strongly brewed hojicha tea instead. Just replace the water content with brewed tea. You’ll also need to add a bit more tapioca starch or reduce the amount of liquid ingredient.

Tapioca starch: tapioca starch is readily available from different shops and is very affordable, too. One package of 250 grams of tapioca starch will yield approximately 10-15 servings of boba pearls.

Sugar: Use either a regular white granulated sugar or light or dark brown sugar – depending on which flavour you’re aiming for. Brown sugar will add a caramel/toffee note that goes really well with hojicha tea powder. However, regular white sugar will work great too.

This hojicha boba pearls recipe yields 3-4 servings. Although making boba pearls will allow you to use different flavor and colors, it will be time consuming. Therefore, starting will less and making 3-4 servings is usually better than making lots of boba pearls at once – especially if you never made them before.

Steps for making Hojicha Boba Pearls

Sift the tea powder and starch: start by sifting the tapioca starch and hojicha tea powder into a clean bowl. While it’s not mandatory to sift starch, it’s always a good idea to do it to remove any lumps. Sifting tea powders is a must, regardless of if you are preparing drinks or baking with them. Mix sifted starch and tea powder well.

Melt sugar in water: add water and sugar into a small saucepan. Simmer on low heat, while continuously stirring until sugar dissolves. Turn the heat on medium-high, until you see small bubbles forming.

Add tapioca starch with tea powder: Turn the heat off and start adding tapioca starch with tea powder while continuously stirring. Once the dough forms, transfer it onto a clean working surface. Knead it until you get a smooth dough that’s neither too sticky nor too dry. You may add more starch or more water if needed.

Make tapioca pearls: Take a small chunk of dough and start making small pearls using your hands. Keep the rest of the dough in the saucepan that’s still warm, covered. While there are many methods to make pearls of the same size, the best way is to take a piece of dough and roll it between your fingers. That’s because the dough will dry out fast. Place them on a baking sheet. Once you’re done, dust them with tapioca starch and let them dry.

How to cook tapioca pearls?

Cooking process for homemade tapioca pearls is the same as the cooking process for store-bought tapioca pearls, except it will take longer. Add about a litre of water into a clean saucepan and bring it to a boil. Then add tapioca pearls. Once they rise to the surface, continue cooking on medium heat for 15-20 minutes. Turn off the heat and leave them in the saucepan covered for another 10-15 minutes. Strain them and mix with a homemade simple syrup or sugar – otherwise they will dry out. Tapioca pearls are best cooked right before serving, although you can keep syrup coated cooked pearls in the fridge for a couple of days. Never store uncoated cooked pearls – they will stick to each other and lose chewiness.

Print

Homemade Hojicha Boba Pearls

Easy recipe for making tapioca pearls for boba tea at home

Course Drinks

Keyword Boba Pearls, Boba Tea, Green Tea, Hojicha

Prep Time 1 hour hour

Cook Time 5 minutes minutes

Servings 4

Equipment

• saucepan
• Sifter
• bowl

Ingredients

• 70 grams of tapioca starch
• 30 grams of sugar
• 1 teaspoon of hojicha powder
• 50 ml of water

Instructions

• Sift tapioca starch and hojicha tea powder into a clean bowl. Mix well.
• Add water and sugar into a small saucepan. Stir until sugar dissolves andsmall bubbles start forming. Turn off the heat.
• Start adding flour and tea mixture while continuously stirring with thespoon or a wooden spatula until dough forms.
• Transform the dough onto a clean working surface and knead it until you geta fine texture, neither too sticky nor too dry.
• Take a very small piece of dough and make a pearl using your fingers. Theyshould be about 6-7mm in diameter. If you are making larger pearls, they willbe too big for boba straw. Place pearls on a baking paper. Repeat until you useup all the dough.
• Dust tapioca pearls with tapioca starch and let them dry for a couple ofhours or cook them immediately.

The post Homemade Hojicha Boba Pearls Recipe appeared first on All That Tea.

How do they taste together?

Absolutely super delicious! Matcha milk jellies give a perfect chewiness and flavour to this bubble tea and just the right dose of sweetness – they come as a sweet surprise. This bubble tea is absolutely refreshing and light, and just perfect for warmer spring and summer days.

What is hojicha tea?

Hojicha tea is a type of Japanese green tea. Tea leaves are roasted to achieve a beautiful golden-brown colour and unique roasted, nutty flavour. Hojicha can be lightly or heavily roasted, which also influences the colour and flavour of the tea. It’s usually made from bancha tea leaves that are already lower in caffeine, but it can be made from sencha, kukicha and even tencha – a tea that’s ground into matcha.

Which hojicha is the best making Hojicha Bubble Tea?

You can use any hojicha tea for making hojicha bubble tea, but the darker the colour, the stronger the flavour it will be. This also means that it will go really well with milk. Hojicha doesn’t have grassy notes, so it’s a great green tea type for tea drinkers that prefer oolong and black teas over green tea.

What are matcha milk jellies?

A topping for this hojicha bubble tea is sweet and grassy homemade matcha jelly. These jellies complement the flavour of hojicha amazingly well. To make them, you’ll need a Japanese matcha powder, agar agar powder, milk and sugar. You can replace sugar with a sugar alternative, for example, erythritol. You can make them a night before and store in the fridge. A good thing about agar agar is that it will settle fast. You can have these jellies ready in less than 30 minutes.

Ingredients for making Hojicha Bubble Tea

Hojicha Tea – any hojicha tea will be great for making this bubble tea, but if you can choose, opt for heavily roasted hojicha. It will give more flavour and depth. Hojicha usually won’t get bitter, which makes it really amazing for bubble teas that are not overly sweet.

Milk – Although you can use any milk, creamers with a very high fat percentage will be a much better option. Coffee creamer, half-and-half, canned coconut milk or vegan coffee creamer will be perfect for this bubble tea. You will need only 5-10 ml of creamer. Another great thing is that this will also reduce the calorie content of this boba tea significantly. Also, you can serve this tea with no milk or creamers. It will still taste absolutely delicious and refreshing.

Sugar – Matcha milk jellies will add enough sweetness to this drink and hojicha is not bitter, so you won’t need to use any additional sugar. However, if you prefer your boba tea sweet, a teaspoon of brown sugar or honey will be a brilliant choice. Both will complement the flavour of hojicha tea well.

Ice – This is an iced boba tea, so make sure you have enough ice. Since ice may make drinks watery, you can also make hojicha in advance and allow it to cool in the fridge.

Ingredients for making Matcha Milk Jellies

Matcha green tea – use an authentic and fresh tea powder with deeper and sweeter flavour. Sift it before adding it to milk to prevent lumps and get a clear green milk jelly. Ceremonial grade or cooking grade are both fine.

Agar agar powder – agar agar is one of the must-have powders if you love drinking homemade boba teas with different toppings. It settles faster than regular gelatine and is vegan-friendly.

Sugar – 1 or 2 teaspoons of sugar will be enough to make these jellies sweet. White sugar or sugar alternative such as erythritol are the best options that won’t impact the flavour of matcha tea, but will add enough sweetness. Avoid stevia in this part of the recipe.

Milk – whole milk will work the best, but milk alternatives with a neutral or milk-like flavour are great too.

How many calories in Hojicha Bubble tea?

Some boba teas are infamous for their high calorie content. While the ingredients that are adding calories are also adding deliciousness, those same calories may be a reason you want to keep boba tea times to a minimum. Amazing thing about this recipe is that unless you are using additional sweeteners, this is actually a very low-calorie drink. One serving will have only around 70 calories and still lots of flavour.

Related Posts

Print

Hojicha Bubble Tea with Matcha Milk Jelly

Refreshing homemade boba tea with two Japanese green teas

Course Drinks

Keyword Boba Tea, Green Tea, Hojicha, Matcha

Prep Time 10 minutes minutes

Cook Time 5 minutes minutes

Time for jelly to set 30 minutes minutes

Total Time 45 minutes minutes

Servings 1

Equipment

• small saucepan
• Precise kitchen scale
• Matcha sifter
• electric hand frother
• Strainer or an infuser
• cup
• Serving glass

Ingredients

For Matcha Milk Jellies

• 100 ml of whole milk
• 1 gram of agar agar powder
• 1 teaspoon of matcha powder
• 1-2 teaspoons of sugar

For Hojicha Bubble Tea

• 3 heaped teaspoons of hojicha tea 2 if you are using heavily roasted hojicha
• 250-300 ml of water
• 1 teaspoon of coffee creamer (about 5 ml) optional
• 1/2 glass of ice

Instructions

For Matcha Jellies

• Sift matcha powder into a tall glass.
• Add milk and use a hand frother to froth it well until there are no clumps left.
• Pour it into a small saucepan.
• Turn on the heat and simmer until hot, but not boiling.
• Add 1 gram of agar agar (about 4 teaspoon handle tips).
• Stir well while simmering until it dissolves. You will see when it starts to thicken. To test if you have added enough agar powder, use a very cold oil and drop one drop of hot jelly into a cold oil. After a couple of seconds, take it out with a teaspoon and check the consistency. If it’s still soft and mushy, add a tiny bit more agar agar powder.
• Pour the milk jelly into a silicone tray and put it in the fridge for 30 minutes.

For Hojicha Bubble Tea

• Bring fresh water to a boil and let it cool to 90 degrees Celsius.
• Steep 3 teaspoons of hojicha tea in 300 ml of water for 5 minutes.
• Add ice into a serving glass.
• Pour the tea into a serving glass and wait until it cools. If you are adding honey or sugar, add it when the tea is still hot.  
• Add matcha milk jellies and stir.
• Serve with a straw. Matcha milk jellies are firm but not as firm as tapioca pearls, so you can use any type of straw.

The post Hojicha Bubble Tea with Matcha Milk Jelly appeared first on All That Tea.