Brown Sugar Milk Tea with Homemade Boba Pearls

紅糖珍珠奶茶

Hongtang zhenzhu naicha

From Tiffy Cooks

Serves 2

What is a Taiwanese cookbook without the most famous Taiwanese drink of all? Originating in Taiwan in the 1980s, bubble tea, or boba, has since taken the world by storm, with shops popping up everywhere. What makes this drink special is the chewy and sweet tapioca pearls. If you’re obsessed with bubble tea like I am, you know that it can get pricey. Save your money and make it at home! If you make boba pearls in bulk, you can have bubble tea at home any time you want!

This recipe is for pearls with a classic brown sugar milk tea, but you can add the pearls to any drink or smoothie you enjoy. Boba pearls are also gluten-free! (See the step-by-step photos to make the boba pearls on page 231.)

INGREDIENTS

Boba Pearls

• 1¼ cups / 150g tapioca starch, plus ½ cup for rolling
• ⅓ cup / 80g water
• ¼ cup / 50g loosely packed brown sugar

Brown Sugar Glaze

• ½ cup loosely packed brown sugar

Milk Tea

• 2 cups 1% or 2% milk
• 4 Taiwanese red tea bags Ice cubes, for serving

METHOD

• Make the boba pearls: Place the 1¼ cups tapioca starch in a large heatproof bowl.
• In a small saucepan, combine the water and brown sugar. Heat over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until the sugar is dissolved. Pour the mixture over the tapioca starch and stir quickly with a pair of chopsticks. The dough will be very sticky (photo 1). Let sit until cool enough to handle.
• Knead the dough in the bowl until it forms a smooth ball (photo 2). Cover with a damp kitchen towel and let sit for 15 minutes.
• Transfer the dough to a floured work surface. Cut into four equal portions. Working with one portion at a time, roll the dough into a ¼-inch-thick rope (photo 3). Cut the rope crosswise into ¼-inch pieces (photo 4). You can adjust the size depending on how big you prefer your pearls to be. The pearls will expand when cooked.
• Put about ½ cup of tapioca starch in a medium bowl. Using your hands, roll each piece of dough into a ball and place in the starch (photo 5). Coat the balls with the tapioca starch to prevent them from sticking to each other (photo 6). At this stage you can freeze the balls in an airtight container for up to 1 month.
• Bring a large pot of water to a simmer over medium heat. Add the tapioca balls and cook, uncovered, for 40 minutes, stirring occasionally so they don’t stick to the bottom or sides of the pot. Remove the pot from the heat, cover with a lid, and let sit for 30 minutes. (If you prefer softer pearls, cook for 45 minutes and let rest for 35 minutes.)
• Drain the pearls. Transfer to a medium bowl of cold water and let sit until you are ready to serve, up to 2 hours.
• When ready to serve, make the brown sugar glaze: Drain the tapioca pearls. Sprinkle the brown sugar into a large pot. Stir over medium heat for 2 to 3 minutes, until the sugar starts to dissolve, making sure the sugar doesn’t burn. Add the boba pearls and stir for another 2 to 3 minutes, until the glaze is thick and every pearl is completely coated. Remove from the heat.
• Make the milk tea: Heat the milk in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Once the milk starts to simmer, add the tea bags and gently stir for 2 to 3 minutes, depending how strong you like your milk tea. Remove from the heat. Discard the tea bags and let the milk cool for 10 minutes.
• Assemble the boba milk tea: Spoon about ¼ cup of boba pearls into each of two large glasses. Fill with ice cubes, then add the milk tea. Serve with a wide straw.

Traditional Beef Noodle Soup

牛肉麵

Niurou mian

From Tiffy Cooks

Serves 4

What would a Taiwanese cookbook be without arguably the most famous dish in Taiwanese cuisine? Taiwanese beef noodle soup is the number one dish in our culture. Every single restaurant and household has their own recipe for this dish. It was so fun growing up in Taiwan and going to friends’ houses and trying their moms’ take on beef noodle soup. I must have tried more than two hundred different versions! Here is my family’s recipe. It’s slightly spicy, and I recommend pairing it with my fresh Hand-Cut Noodles (page 242). It truly is a pot of love!

INGREDIENTS

• 2 star anise pods
• 6 dried red Thai chilies
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 small cinnamon stick
• 1 tablespoon Sichuan peppercorns
• 2½ pounds / 1.125kg boneless beef shank, cut crosswise into 3 pieces
• 1½ teaspoons olive oil
• 1 cup finely chopped yellow onion
• ¼ cup smashed peeled garlic cloves
• 3 thin slices peeled fresh ginger
• 2 medium tomatoes, sliced ⅛ inch thick
• 2½ tablespoons la doubanjiang (spicy fermented bean paste)
• 1½ tablespoons suga
• ½ cup rice wine
• ½ cup light soy sauce
• ¼ cup dark soy sauce
• 8 cups water, more as needed
• 1 batch (8 ounces / 225g) cooked Hand-Cut Noodles (page 242)
• 4 steamed baby bok choy, cut in half lengthwise

For garnish

• ½ cup Asian pickled mustard greens
• Fresh cilantro leaves
• Chopped scallions, green part only

METHOD

• In a small frying pan, combine the star anise, chilies, bay leaves, cinnamon stick, and Sichuan peppercorns. Toast over medium-high heat for 2 to 3 minutes, until fragrant. Transfer the spices to a small plate and let cool. Place the spices in a spice bag. (You can skip using a spice bag if you don’t have one, but you’ll need to strain the broth before serving.)
• Bring a large pot of water to a rapid boil over medium-high heat. Add the beef and blanch for 3 minutes, until the scum has floated to the top. Drain the meat and rinse with cold water. This helps remove the impurities from the beef and helps prevent a cloudy broth. Wipe the pot.
• In the same pot, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add the yellow onions, garlic, ginger, and tomatoes and sauté for 3 minutes. Add the doubanjiang and sugar and stir for 1 minute.
• Add the rice wine, light soy sauce, dark soy sauce, spice bag, beef, and the water. Ensure the beef is covered with water. Bring to a simmer over low heat, cover with a lid, and simmer for 1½ hours. Check occasionally to ensure that the beef is completely covered with water. Add more water as needed.
• Remove the pot from the heat. Transfer the beef to a large cutting board and cut into thin slices. Discard the spice bag or strain the broth.
• To assemble, in a large bowl combine the noodles, bok choy, and sliced beef. Pour the broth into the bowl. Garnish with the pickled mustard greens, cilantro, and scallion greens. Serve immediately

Buttery Seafood Fried Rice

奶油海鮮炒飯

Naiyou haixian chaofan

From Tiffy Cooks

Serves 2

If you’re a beginner in the kitchen and you’re looking to treat yourself or spice up date night, you need to try my buttery seafood fried rice! It makes perfect use of fancier ingredients—like dashi and masago—and tastes like an expensive seafood fried rice dish you’d get at a restaurant. You can substitute the seafood in this recipe based on your preferences. I like using scallops, prawns, and salmon. Every bite is packed with umami flavour from all the fresh seafood. The secret ingredient that brings this whole dish together is actually butter! This Taiwanese and Japanese fusion recipe is one of my husband Dom’s favourites.

INGREDIENTS

• 1 skinless salmon fillet (6 ounces / 170g), patted dry
• ½ teaspoon garlic powder
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 3 tablespoons unsalted butter, divided
• 4 ounces / 115g sea scallops
• 4 ounces / 115g thawed frozen baby octopus
• 4 ounces / 115g prawns, peeled and deveined
• 1 scallion, chopped, white and green parts separated
• 2½ cups cooked and cooled short-grain rice (page 241)
• 1½ teaspoons light soy sauce
• ½ teaspoon ground white pepper
• ½ teaspoon dashi powder
• 2 tablespoons masago (fish roe), for garnish

METHOD

• Season both sides of the salmon with the garlic powder, salt, and black pepper.
• Heat the olive oil in a large frying pan over medium-high heat. Place the salmon skinned-side down in the pan and fry until cooked through, 4 minutes per side. Transfer the salmon to a plate and use a fork to break it up into small pieces. Wipe the pan.
• In the same pan, melt 1 tablespoon of the butter over medium heat. Once the butter is melted, add the scallops, octopus, and prawns and fry until the prawns start to turn pink, 2 to 3 minutes. Transfer the seafood to the plate with the salmon and set aside. Wipe the pan.
• In the same pan, melt the remaining 2 tablespoons butter. Add the scallion whites and sauté for 1 minute. Add the cooked rice, light soy sauce, white pepper, and dashi powder. Break apart the rice, making sure every piece of rice is coated in butter.
• Add the cooked salmon and seafood. Increase the heat to high, add the scallion greens, and sauté until the rice is golden brown, 2 to 3 minutes. Garnish with the masago. Serve immediately.