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Tapioca pearls are another name for Boba 波霸 and are made from tapioca which is derived from the cassava root. I spent six years in Taiwan and two of those years working for one of the biggest bubble tea shops in Taiwan, where I learned how to cook authentic tapioca pearls.
A lot of people try to cook tapioca pearls only to have them become mushy and lifeless after about 30 minutes. This is mainly because the cooked boba is not properly stored after making them. For best results, you want to let your boba soak in a sweetener (sugar or honey) for about 30 minutes after cooking. Another important point is to only use your tapioca pearls for 4 hours (don’t store them overnight!).
You have a couple of different options for cooking tapioca pearls. You can cook them in the traditional way with a stove and a pot, or you can use a Automatic Boba Cooker but we’re going to focus on the traditional method in this article.
Cooking Time: 60 minutes Serves: 2-4
Mix 25ml of hot water with 25g of brown sugar (if you don’t have any brown sugar you can use white sugar or honey).
Stir them until the sugar is dissolved and then put the syrup into a bowl.
Let them sit for 15 minutes in the sugar syrup. This will give them time to absorb some of the sweet flavor and reach the best consistency.
**Notes: These cooking times are for medium-sized tapioca balls. If your using smaller ones then reduce the time to 5 minutes. Increase the time for 15 minutes for larger ones.
***To increase the serving size just multiply all the ingredients by 2. e.g. 200g tapioca balls, 2 Liters of water(2000 ml), 50ml hot water, 50ml brown sugar.
We get a lot of questions about whether you can keep your cooked boba in the fridge overnight or if you can use the same boba all day. The short answer is, NO!
Professional boba tea shops use their boba for 4 hours and will throw it out after that and they definitely do not store it overnight. Making boba correctly is one of the hardest things to master as a bubble tea shop owner, and it is what sets good bubble tea shops apart from the bad or mediocre ones.
**You need to use your boba within 4 hours after cooking, it not recommended to put cooked boba into a refrigerator and especially do not store it overnight.**
There are a lot of bubble tea suppliers out there, and it can be hard to choose the right one. The first thing that you want to do is make sure that their products all come from Taiwan (not China), bubble tea was invented in Taiwan, and Taiwan has much better food safety practices than China.
Another option is to make your own boba with an Automatic Tapioca Pearl Maker. This machine takes dough made from tapioca starch and water and turns it into 9mm boba. With your own machine you can experiment with different flavors and colors to give your customers more variety and your store a competitive advantage.
Check out our Bubble Tea Training Video below for more information on how to start your own bubble tea shop and make boba like a pro!
Copyright © 2023 BubbleTeaology. All Rights Reserved.
35 Responses
What is the optimal temperature to hold cooked boba? Do you recommend room temperature, or holding them in a warmer for serving?
Thank you!
What is the optimal temperature to hold cooked boba? Do you recommend room temperature, or holding them in a warmer for serving?
Thank you!
Can you soak them in alicohol instead of syrup?
Hi Jessica,
We have never tried soaking them in alcohol before but as long as your going to serve them to adults then you can try. Let me know how it goes!
Hello, is it necessary to soak them for a couple of hour before boiling? Ive seen other recipes and it said they need to be soaked. But ive made sago before(tiny tapioca pearls) and it said do not soak them so im confused.
Hi Hannah,
Thanks for your comment.
It is not necessary to soak the tapioca pearls before cooking unless your recipe brand of tapioca specifically says to do so.
Let me know if you have any other questions.
Hi Hannah,
Thanks for your comment.
It is not necessary to soak the tapioca pearls before cooking unless your recipe brand of tapioca specifically says to do so.
Let me know if you have any other questions.
I only have a microwave. Is there a way to cook them in the microwave?
Hi Kim,
We have not tried to cook them in a microwave before. The two most common ways are with a stove or with an Automatic Boba Cooker:
https://www.bubbleteaology.com/product/automatic-tapioca-pearl-boba-cooker/
Let me know if you have any other questions.
Hi Kim,
We have not tried to cook them in a microwave before. The two most common ways are with a stove or with an Automatic Boba Cooker:
https://www.bubbleteaology.com/product/automatic-tapioca-pearl-boba-cooker/
Let me know if you have any other questions.
Hello, is there a way to cook boba in a crock pot?
Hi Makayla,
We have not tried to cook them in a ctock pot before. The two most common ways are with a stove or with an Automatic Boba Cooker:
https://www.bubbleteaology.com/product/automatic-tapioca-pearl-boba-cooker/
Let me know if you have any other questions.
Hi Makayla,
We have not tried to cook them in a ctock pot before. The two most common ways are with a stove or with an Automatic Boba Cooker:
https://www.bubbleteaology.com/product/automatic-tapioca-pearl-boba-cooker/
Let me know if you have any other questions.
Hi, I wanted to make cook the tapioca pearls and store them in the fridge before adding in the tea. How long will they be able to last? Thanks.
Hi Karena,
Thanks for contacting us. You need to use your boba within 4 hours after cooking, it not recommended to put cooked boba into a refrigerator and especially do not store it over night.
Hi Karena,
Thanks for contacting us. You need to use your boba within 4 hours after cooking, it not recommended to put cooked boba into a refrigerator and especially do not store it over night.
After the 25 minutes of boiling and 10 minutes steeping my tapioca balls are still white in the centre. Is this normal? Should I cook them until they are completely clear?
HI, your tapioca might require longer to cook so experiment with the recipe and try 30 or 35 minutes.
How much cooked pearls does 100g of uncooked pearls make?
Hi Jeff, cooked tapioca pearls will make about double the dry amount. So 100g will make about 200g.
On the picture at the very top, Step 7 is confusing. Do I mix in the hot water from the bubble tea into the “Syrup Solution”/with the honey I’m supposed to set aside? -OR- is Step 7 from the picture telling me to put honey into the pot with boba cooking as well as create a “Syrupy Solution” in Step 8? -OR- Should I ignore that as some typo/other?
Side note, thank you very much for this recipe/information/website. I’m just very confused by the picture at the top, that’s all.
Hi Fatimah, you will want to use new hot water to mix with your sugar or honey to make the syrup solution.
Hi, can I ask how many grams of cooked tapioca pearl will that mixtures make? Thanks
Hi! Does cooking time change if I increase serving to say, 200g tapioca?
Thanks
Hi, no the cooking time does not increase. Just the ratio of water.
Great thanks! 2 more for you hehe
1. If I want the center of the tapioca to be even softer , what part of the recipe do I need to change?
2. Is there a way to keep cooked tapioca overnight?
Thanks
Great thanks! 2 more for you hehe
1. If I want the center of the tapioca to be even softer , what part of the recipe do I need to change?
2. Is there a way to keep cooked tapioca overnight?
Thanks
We recommend using the tapioca pearls 4 hours after cooking. You can try increasing the cooking time if you want them to be softer.
Hi , can I ask the reason behind the cold rinse after cooking and before placing in the syrup? Putting them in the shoe up hot would it keep them squishy and allow more labor to reach them?
Thank you,
Aonya
Sorry that was suppose to read *if I put them in the syrup still hot * would it keep the more squishy ?
Hi Aonya,
This is how it is done by all the best bubble tea shops in Taiwan so that is the recipe that we stick to. You can experiment with hot water and see if that works out better for you. Good luck!
Hi Aonya,
This is how it is done by all the best bubble tea shops in Taiwan so that is the recipe that we stick to. You can experiment with hot water and see if that works out better for you. Good luck!
On the picture at the very top, Step 7 is confusing. Do I mix in the hot water from the bubble tea into the “Syrup Solution”/with the honey I’m supposed to set aside? -OR- is Step 7 from the picture telling me to put honey into the pot with boba cooking as well as create a “Syrupy Solution” in Step 8? -OR- Should I ignore that as some typo/other?
Side note, thank you very much for this recipe/information/website. I’m just very confused by the picture at the top, that’s all.
Hi! Does cooking time change if I increase serving to say, 200g tapioca?
Thanks
Hi , can I ask the reason behind the cold rinse after cooking and before placing in the syrup? Putting them in the shoe up hot would it keep them squishy and allow more labor to reach them?
Thank you,
Aonya