Quick Cook Coloured Large Tapioca Pearls

These large colourful tapioca pearls are famously used in a Taiwanese drink called ‘boba’ or bubble tea. These large coloured tapioca pearls are gelatinous spheres made from a natural starch extracted from a cassava shrub. The multicoloured quick-cook tapioca pearls are already part-cooked, so are ready in just 5 minutes.

Boba tea is a milk-based drink with a handful of the pearl balls at the bottom of the glass – sucked up through an extra-wide straw. Tapioca pearls are also used in South Asian desserts, boiled up with coconut milk until they take on a jelly baby-like consistency. Or simply mixed with sugar and honey.

To cook the quick-cook tapioca pearls bring a pan of water to the boil – use 10 cups of water for every 1 cup of tapioca pearls. Add the pearls slowly and stir gently. Wait until they rise to the surface. Reduce to a simmer and cook for 5-8 minutes until soft, stirring regularly. Transfer to a bowl of cold water for 20 seconds. Scoop out the tapioca pearls and mix together with sugar or honey for a quick dessert.

You might also like these Straws for Bubble Tea

Ingredients: tapioca starch 46.8%, water, thickener (acetylated starch), thickener (hydroxypropyl distarch phosphate), emulsifier E412, preservative E262, colour (E110, E129, E102, E133). Colours E102, E129 and E110 may have an adverse effect on acitvity in children