Homemade Bubble Tea
The other day my mom and I took a look into our pantry and noticed that we have a CRAP TON of stuff in there and yet, we are never able to find anything to eat. There is so much stuff that we can’t even tell what we have in there! Today, we decided to re-organize the pantry and the refrigerator and have made it our goal to eat only out of the pantry, fridge, and freezer until we’ve managed to dwindle it all down to nothing, only going to the store for non-food items and little things to complete a recipe. For example, if we wanted to make something and have everything for that recipe but cauliflower, we would go out and buy some cauliflower.
We started off today by eating some of the leftovers we had hiding in the fridge: our last Salad Roll Whopper, butter beans, mashed potatoes, and leftover tofu scramble with soy chorizo and potatoes. For dinner, we grabbed a can of jackfruit and made some BBQ jackfruit sandwiches with coleslaw (using the leftover cabbage from the salad rolls) and mac and cheese (using the rest of our mac and cheese sauce we had in the fridge and a bit of some pasta from the pantry. So far, so good!
We’ve already got some plans for that leftover coleslaw too! Field Roast Frankfurters (from the fridge, buns from the freezer) with coleslaw on top mmmmmmmm.
Now back to the whole “organizing the pantry” thing…
While we were digging around in there, we found some stuff we had NO IDEA was in there. Mysterious things in Mason Jars, different types of flours, and starches, all kinds of fun things! But the thing that caught my eye the most was the bag of unopened tapioca pearls, you know, for that bubble (boba???) tea everybody is drinking these days and a box of my favorite kind of tea bags! I remember buying the tapioca pearls a looong time ago with the intention of making all kinds of bubble tea, but alas, they got shoved to the back of the pantry on the top shelf, where I couldn’t see them. I’m short ok. I couldn’t see over the giant bag of oatmeal!! Today I decided to try making some bubble tea to uh… clean out the pantry 😉
I didn’t really have a plan or anything (I rarely do), I just kind of threw things together and I was pleased to find that it all worked out and turned into a lovely afternoon pick-me-up. It was nice and sweet with the surprise of “bubbles” with every sip!
Vegan Bubble/Boba Tea
Serves: 2
Ingredients
- 1/4 – 1/3 C. Tapioca Pearls (depending on how many “bubbles” you want, I used 1/3 C.)
- 4 1/2 C. Water
- 2 Tea Bags*
- 2-4 T. Pure Maple Syrup or Agave**
- Splash of Soy Milk or Other Non-Dairy Milk
Directions:
In a small saucepan, bring 1/2 cup of the water to a boil then add the tapioca pearls and gently stir. Reduce the heat to medium-high and cook for roughly 5 minutes. Remove from heat, cover, and let stand for an addition 5-10 minutes. They should feel pretty squishy when you poke them! Once the tapioca pearls are ready, add them to 2 tall glasses and cover with 1-2 tablespoons of maple syrup to each glass and let cool for a bit.
Bring the remaining 4 cups of water to a boil in either a separate pot, or a microwave safe dish. Add the tea bags and steep the tea for 2-4 minutes.
Once the tea is ready, pour it over the tapioca pearls, add a bit of soy milk, and snap a picture of how pretty it looks before you stir it all up! Sip and enjoy!
Notes:
If you prefer cold bubble tea, let the pearls cool completely and make the tea in advance, letting it chill in the fridge for a couple of hours. I had mine warm and it was still delightful.
*I used Raspberry Royale black tea bags because it gives it a nice flavor. You could also use herbal tea or decrease the amount of tea and add some of your favorite fruit juice, just use a mild flavored tea, such as green tea.
**You could also use stevia here if you’re not a fan of either maple syrup or agave, the pearls just won’t be quite as sweet as the rest of the tea.
-Hunter