Want to make popping boba at home? We have recipes for making bursting boba with Gatorade and also a recipe for popping boba beads using Sodium Alginate.
Everyone seems to love Boba, whether you call them popping boba, bursting bubbles, juice balls, or popping bubbles.
If you’ve visited a frozen yogurt shop, Boba is the edible gel beads you kids go crazy for or the beads in drinks like “Boba Tea” or “Bubble Tea,” and we are going to show you how to make popping boba at home.
You can make Boba pearls at home with simple ingredients and call it a fun science experiment.
What is Boba?
Boba is liquid-filled bubbles of fruit-flavored juices that pop in your mouth when consumed.
Boba, also known as bubble tea, is a popular Taiwanese drink that has become popular around the world in recent years. It typically consists of tea, milk, sugar, and tapioca pearls, which are small, chewy balls made from cassava starch.
Boba tea can be made in a variety of flavors, such as green tea, black tea, fruit tea, or milk tea, and can be served hot or cold. The tapioca pearls, which are often referred to as “boba,” give the drink its distinctive texture and are typically added to the drink through a large straw.
Boba tea originated in Taiwan in the 1980s and has since become a popular drink around the world. It has gained a following due to its unique taste and texture, and the fact that it is highly customizable, allowing people to create their own unique flavor combinations.
The cooking technique in cooking is actually called molecular gastronomy.
It’s food science that investigates the chemical and physical transformation of ingredients that occur in cooking.
Typically, Boba is made with a mixture of fruit juice (without calcium) mixed with powdered sodium alginate, then dripped in a cold calcium chloride mixture.
We also have Balsamic Popping Boba instructions to show boba isn’t just for a bubble tea drink!
Where does Boba Come From?
Boba, also known as bubble tea, is a popular Taiwanese drink that has become popular worldwide in recent years. It typically consists of tea, milk, sugar, and tapioca pearls, small, chewy balls made from cassava starch.
Boba tea can be made in a variety of flavors, such as green tea, black tea, fruit tea, or milk tea, and can be served hot or cold. The tapioca pearls, often referred to as “boba,” give the drink its distinctive texture and are typically added to the drink through a large straw.
Boba tea has become a popular drink worldwide since its origin in Taiwan in the 1980s. It has gained a following due to its unique taste and texture and the fact that it is highly customizable, allowing people to create their own unique flavor combinations.
In Taiwan, it’s zhenzhu naicha (珍珠奶茶). It’s called Q or QQ and is found in tea shops.
One legend says Hanlin Tea Room, a tea shop in Tainan, was the creator.
The Legend of Lin Hsui-Hui:
Another legend gives credit to a Chun Shui Tang employee, Lin Hsiu-hui.
The Legend of Lin Hsui-Hui is a well-known story in Taiwan that is often associated with the origins of boba tea. The story tells of a young woman named Lin Hsui-Hui, who lived in Taichung in the 1940s.
According to the legend, Lin Hsui-Hui was a tea vendor who was known for her delicious tea. One day, while preparing tea for her customers, she accidentally dropped some tapioca balls into the pot of tea. Rather than waste the tea, she decided to serve it to her customers anyway. To her surprise, they loved the new drink, which came to be known as “bubble tea” or boba tea.
While the story of Lin Hsui-Hui is often cited as the origin of boba tea, it is likely a myth or a legend that has been passed down through generations. The true origins of boba tea are believed to be linked to the invention of bubble tea in Taiwan in the 1980s, which was a more recent development than the time period in which Lin Hsui-Hui lived. Nonetheless, the legend of Lin Hsui-Hui remains a beloved part of Taiwanese folklore and a testament to the ingenuity and creativity of the people of Taiwan.
Where Does Boba Get Its Name?
While people take sides on who created it, the origin of the name “boba” is agreed on.
The drink we now know as “boba tea” or “bubble tea” gets its name from the small, chewy tapioca balls that are added to the drink. In Taiwanese Hokkien, the language spoken by many people in Taiwan, “boba” is a colloquial term that refers to the tapioca balls.
When boba tea was first invented in Taiwan in the 1980s, it was simply called “pearl milk tea” or “tapioca milk tea” because of the tapioca balls added to the drink. However, as the drink became more popular, people began referring to it as “boba tea” or “bubble tea” because of the bubbles that form when the drink is shaken or blended.
The term “bubble tea” is more commonly used in some parts of the world, while “boba tea” is more commonly used in others. Regardless of the name, the drink remains popular globally for its unique flavor and texture.
Amy Yip, a Hong Kong sex symbol in the 1980s, is called “Boba” (it’s Chinese slang for her famous pair of body assets).
What are the two types of Spherification in gastronomy?
Spherification is a technique used in modernist cuisine that involves creating small, flavorful spheres of liquid that burst in the mouth.
There are two main types of spherification:
- Basic spherification: This technique involves using a mixture of sodium alginate and a liquid ingredient, such as fruit juice or flavored water. The mixture is then dropped into a solution of calcium chloride, which causes the sodium alginate to gel and form a thin membrane around the liquid, creating small, round spheres.
- Reverse spherification: In this technique, the sodium alginate is added to the calcium solution, and the liquid ingredient is added to the sodium alginate mixture. The liquid forms into small spheres as it comes into contact with the calcium solution, creating a thicker membrane and a more stable sphere.
Both techniques allow chefs and home cooks to create unique and visually appealing dishes, and they have become increasingly popular in modernist cuisine. Spherification can be used to create everything from flavorful caviar-like spheres to cocktails with suspended spheres of fruit juice or other liquids.
Cold Oil Spherification and Sodium Alginate Spherification:
For the primary recipe, we are going to use ingredients that you can find easily at a grocery store: vegetable oil, Gatorade, and agar powder (found in the Asian food section or on Amazon).
We also share a recipe for Popping Boba Beads using Sodium Alginate, which offers a more varied flavor medium, as explained below.
What is the Cold Oil Boba Beads Method
To make boba pearls using the Cold Oil Method, tapioca starch is mixed with water and flavoring agents, such as fruit juice or powdered tea. The mixture is then stirred until it forms a thick, pliable dough. The dough is then rolled into small balls, about the size of a pea.
Next, the balls are dropped into a bowl of cold oil, such as vegetable oil or coconut oil. The cold temperature of the oil causes the balls to solidify and become firm, creating a distinctive texture that is different from traditional boba pearls.
After the balls are removed from the oil, they are boiled in water and sweetened with sugar or honey. The resulting pearls are then added to drinks, such as milk tea or fruit smoothies, for a unique and flavorful twist on traditional boba. The Cold Oil Boba Beads Method is not as common as the traditional method of making boba pearls, but it has gained a following among boba enthusiasts who enjoy the unique texture and flavor.
Cold Oil Popping Boba:
1 cup vegetable oil
1 cup Gatorade
1/2 teaspoon Agar Powder
How is Popping Boba Made?
Pour 1 cup vegetable oil into a glass and place in the freezer for 40 minutes.
In a medium saucepan, combine Gatorade and agar powder.
Over medium-high heat, bring Gatorade and agar powder mixture to a boil while stirring.
Pour Gatorade mixtures into a heatproof bowl and cool for 20 minutes.
Take the oil out of the freezer.
Fill a dropper with the Gatorade mixture and squirt it into the oil.
The juice will form a ball and sink as soon as it hits.
Using a slotted spoon, rinse the beads in a bowl of cold water.
Drain beans in a mesh strainer.
Eat the beads as ice cream topping, or stir them into iced tea.
Tips:
Solid pearls in oil that do not pop.
If the oil is not cold enough, when the spheres get to the bottom, they are still liquid and will merge. (you may need to keep the oil in the freezer for 1-2 hours)
If the agar mixture isn’t heated enough, it won’t be hydrated enough to create the gel.
A dropper will not always give you the best ball shape because of the way the drop falls into the water.
Experiment with the dropping distance above the water (lower will be more uniform because the flavored liquid isn’t hitting the water’s surface with much force.
How to Make Popping Boba for Teas and Milk:
You can branch out and use Sodium Alginate, which will allow you a more varied range of flavors, as you can use fruit juices of your choice to create the popping boba.
Here is a general recipe for making Popping Boba using sodium alginate:
Ingredients:
- 1 cup of fruit juice or flavored liquid
- 1 teaspoon of sodium alginate
- 1/4 cup of calcium chloride
- 1/2 cup of sweetened syrup
How to use sodium alginate to make Popping Boba
- In a blender, combine the fruit juice or flavored liquid with the sodium alginate. Blend until the mixture is smooth and uniform.
- Pour the mixture into a squeeze bottle or syringe with a small nozzle.
- In a separate bowl, mix the calcium chloride with 2 cups of water to create a bath.
- Squeeze small droplets of the mixture into the calcium chloride bath. The droplets should form into small spheres as they come into contact with the bath.
- Let the Popping Boba sit in the calcium chloride bath for 3-5 minutes.
- Carefully remove the Popping Boba from the bath and rinse them with water to remove any excess calcium chloride.
- Soak the Popping Boba in a sweetened syrup for 5-10 minutes to add flavor and sweetness.
- Store the Popping Boba in the refrigerator until ready to use.
Note: The recipe and proportions may vary depending on the specific ingredients used and the desired texture and flavor of the Popping Boba. It is important to follow the instructions carefully and to experiment with different ratios and flavor combinations to achieve the desired results.
You may also like this recipe using sodium Alginate to Make Popping Boba
Sodium Alginate Popping Boba
- 5.3 ounces of favorite fruit juice*
- 5 grams sodium alginate
- 50 grams drinking water
- 6 grams calcium lactate
- 4 1/4 cups water**
- 2 cups clean water for rinsing
- food coloring of choice optional
How to Make Popping Boba Using Sodium Alginate:
- In a large bowl, add distilled water and calcium lactate and let rest (four hours is recommended (overnight is best)).
- In a separate large bowl, stir the drinking water with sodium alginate until smooth and thickened.
- Slowly whisk fruit juice into the sodium alginate/water mixture and whisk until smooth. Add any food coloring here.
- Give the water/calcium lactate solution a stir.
- Add the juice mixture to your syringe or dropper, and slowly create drops into the calcium lactate solution. Drops should rest in the mixture for up to ten minutes*.
- Add the rinsing water to a separate large bowl and rinse the boba pearls.
- Serve popping bowls!
Tips:
Use a low calcium content (green tea, coffee, mango, lychee, strawberry, etc.). High calcium content, like orange juice, will not work as it will clump.
It’s best to use real fruit juice with a pH below 3.6 may have issues–seek one that is not too acidic.
**tap water should be fine, but if your water is overly hard, you may need to use distilled water.
Use a caviar maker or caviar box spherification kit if you are making large quantities of boba at a time.
The sodium alginate is a 1-percent solution to 100ml of juice (1 gram of sodium alginate to every 100ml of juice). A little more won’t change it too much.
Mini Boba:
The smaller the spheres are, the more difficult they will be to sink into the thickened sodium alginate bath.
The thicker a liquid is, the more surface tension it will have.
*The longer the sphere sits in the water, the thicker the gel will become.
A dropper will not always give you the best ball shape because of the way the drop falls into the water. Experiment with the dropping distance above the water (lower will be more uniform because the flavored liquid isn’t hitting the water’s surface with much force.
What is Sodium Alginate?
In the food industry, alginate is used as a thickening agent, gelling agent, emulsifier, stabilizer, and texture-improver.
Alginate has been used to coat fruits and vegetables as a microbial and viral protection product and as a gelling, thickening, stabilizing, or emulsifying agent.
Sodium alginate is a natural polysaccharide derived from brown seaweed that is commonly used as a food additive and thickener. It is a white or beige powder that is soluble in water and forms a viscous gel when combined with calcium ions.
Sodium alginate is used in a variety of food products, including dairy products, processed foods, and beverages, as a thickener, emulsifier, and stabilizer. It is also used in the production of Popping Boba, as it helps to create the gel-like membrane around the liquid filling.
In addition to its uses in the food industry, sodium alginate has a range of other applications, including in the textile industry as a printing paste for fabrics, in the pharmaceutical industry as a binder and disintegrant in tablets and capsules, and in the cosmetics industry as a thickener and stabilizer in creams and lotions.
Sodium alginate is considered safe for consumption by regulatory agencies, such as the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and is generally well-tolerated by most people. However, as with any food additive, some individuals may experience allergic reactions or digestive issues when consuming products containing sodium alginate.
How Does the Science Work?
It is the same concept as when you drop water into vegetable oil.
This is a technique known as spherification.
Popping Boba is made using a process called Spherification.
Credit for the invention of spherification goes to English food scientist William J. S. Peschardt, who patented the technique in the 1940s (U.S. 2403547).
In cooking, the spherification technique was spearheaded by chef Ferran Adrià at the famous three Micheline-Star, El Bulli Restaurant in Spain.
The water forms into a small sphere.
In the Popping Boba recipe, you drop the liquid into the solution.
The reaction causes the solution to form a thin, flexible outer layer forming the balls within a few seconds.
The beads’ formation uses agar, a natural gelling agent made from algae, that is dissolved into the warm liquid.
This makes the altar molecules form a web that solidifies as it cools.
When the mixture hits the old oil, the molecules on the outside of the drop chill so quickly that they form a thin skin that traps the liquid remaining inside.
Oil and Gatorade cannot combine, so the drops form spheres instead of dispersing into the oil.
Or in the case of the Sodium Alginate Boba, a gel forms when a calcium salt is added to a solution of sodium alginate in water. The gel forms by chemical reaction; the calcium displaces the sodium from the alginate, holds the long alginate molecules together, and a gel or boba pearl results.
Popping Boba Recipe
Boba is the edible gel beads you kids go crazy for or the beads in drinks like "Bubble Tea" Here's how to make popping boba at home.
Ingredients
- 1 cup vegetable oil
- 1 cup Gatorade
- 1/2 teaspoon Agar Powder
Instructions
- Pour 1 cup vegetable oil into a glass and place in the freezer for 40-minutes.
- In a medium saucepan, combine Gatorade and agar powder.
- Over medium-high heat, bring Gatorade and agar powder mixture to a boil while stirring.
- Pour Gatorade mixtures into a heatproof bowl and cool for 20-minutes.
- Take the oil out of the freezer.
- Fill a dropper with the Gatorade mixture and squirt it into the oil.
- As soon as the juice hits, it will form a ball and sink.
- Using a slotted spoon, transfer the beads to a bowl of cold water to rinse.
- Drain beads in a mesh strainer.
- Eat the beads or use them as an ice cream topping or stir into iced tea.
Notes
Sodium Alginate + Calcium Lactate Value Pack
Perfect Caviar Maker
Spherification Spoon
Spherification Kit
Agar Pure Powder
Agar Agar Powder 8oz
30pcs Clear Plastic Test Tubes with Cork Stoppers
Pure Sodium Alginate
Pure Calcium Lactate
8 Pcs Reusable Boba Straws
OR JUST Buy Boba:
Popping Boba Pearls for Bubble Tea-Strawberry
Nutrition Information:
Yield: 24 Serving Size: 1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 83Total Fat: 9gSaturated Fat: 1gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 8gCholesterol: 0mgSodium: 4mgCarbohydrates: 1gFiber: 0gSugar: 1gProtein: 0g
The Nutritional Information may not be accurate.