Andrew Chuang, CEO of Xing Fu Tang USA, demonstrates how to make three of the delightful kinds of Taiwanese boba milk served at his stores: Brown Sugar Boba Milk, Ube Boba Milk with Taro Boba, and Matcha Boba Milk with Strawberry Boba.
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00:00 My name is Andrew Chuang.
00:01 I'm the CEO of Xing Fu Tang USA.
00:04 And today I'm gonna be using these ingredients
00:06 to make three different kinds of boba.
00:08 First, I'll be making our signature drink,
00:13 brown sugar boba milk.
00:14 Boba is made from tapioca starch
00:17 formed into round balls and cooked in hot water.
00:20 It really comes down to the ingredients that you use.
00:23 So this tapioca starch is really what makes our boba
00:27 perfectly chewy and soft and bouncy
00:29 and makes it able to hold up against the drink
00:32 for a long time.
00:33 The blend we use for this particular tapioca starch
00:37 is a special recipe that we developed
00:39 just for our boba here at Xing Fu Tang.
00:42 When we're making the dough,
00:42 we wanna make sure that the water is hot enough
00:45 for the dough to actually come together.
00:47 So right now what I'm looking for
00:50 is for the dough to start to come together
00:53 and form shaggy clumps.
00:56 (upbeat music)
00:58 Next I'm gonna add our brown sugar.
01:01 This is the only other ingredient in the dough.
01:03 The sugar that I'm using here
01:04 is from one very specific part of Taiwan
01:08 and it's got the perfect combination of sweetness
01:11 and texture and flavor and the way it torches
01:15 and caramelizes.
01:16 It's stickier and almost more syrupy
01:19 than store-bought brown sugar.
01:21 At this point, I'm watching for the brown sugar
01:24 to mix into the dough and for the dough to form a ball.
01:28 Now that the dough has come together,
01:33 I'll knead it into a ball and roll it out into a slab
01:35 to feed into the machine.
01:37 The dough itself is not too sticky.
01:46 It's much firmer than a bread dough would be.
01:49 You can see as I'm pressing through that there is some give
01:52 but it's taking a little bit of effort.
01:55 When you're right above the dough,
01:56 it really smells like brown sugar.
01:58 Every time you knead it,
01:58 you get a little waft of that aroma.
02:00 You can see here some clumps of brown sugar.
02:13 This will all melt away once we cut and cook the dough.
02:17 (gentle music)
02:20 I'm gonna be using this boba machine
02:30 or as we call it in the store, zhen zhu ji qi.
02:33 It just means boba machine.
02:35 Add a little bit of starch to the roller
02:37 so that it doesn't stick.
02:39 I'll also dust this tray
02:40 so that the finished pearls don't stick to it.
02:43 (gentle music)
02:46 So the roller will cut off little ropes of boba
02:51 and then the two spinning wheels inside of the machine
02:54 will cut it into balls and then it'll roll out of the tray.
02:58 Once the boba comes out of the machine,
03:06 you wanna roll it by hand
03:07 so that it forms a nice round shape.
03:10 If you let it just come out of the machine as is,
03:12 it'll be a little bit cylindrical
03:14 and not as nice to drink.
03:15 It's very satisfying to watch boba drop out of the machine.
03:20 So now that we have a full batch of shaped boba,
03:26 it's time to cook them.
03:28 So the water is at a rolling boil.
03:30 I'm gonna pour these in.
03:31 Once the boba goes into the water,
03:33 it's immediately gonna swell and get sticky.
03:35 So we wanna keep it moving.
03:37 I'm gonna stir the pot just to make sure
03:41 that nothing sticks to the bottom or the sides.
03:43 And once the boba starts to float on its own,
03:49 I'll let it boil on its own.
03:50 Cooking the boba takes about 45 minutes start to finish.
03:55 Now that the boba is floating,
03:58 you know that most of the outside layer
04:01 has been cooked and gelatinized already.
04:03 So we'll just come back once in a while to stir it.
04:06 Once it's cooked, the boba should swell
04:10 about 25% bigger than it was going in.
04:12 And it should be sticky and soft and gelatinous in texture.
04:16 In Taiwan, we call this little bit of springiness
04:19 combined with the softness that the boba has, Kyu.
04:21 And it's similar to the Italian idea of al dente
04:24 where it's like perfect texture for whatever you're eating.
04:27 You'll also notice that cooked boba
04:32 is also more translucent and a darker brown.
04:36 Squeezing it should be soft, squishy, sticky.
04:40 It should bounce back when you bite it,
04:42 bounce back when you squeeze it.
04:43 This one pearl right here is a perfect example
04:45 of what you want boba to be like once you've cooked it.
04:48 It's a little bit translucent.
04:49 There's a bounciness to it, a softness to it.
04:53 Once you bite into it, you'll really recognize that feeling.
04:56 So next time we'll be using a hot wok
04:58 to help caramelize some brown sugar.
05:01 It'll start to toast and caramelize
05:03 and it really gives off a strong brown sugar aroma.
05:06 It just smells amazing.
05:07 I'll know it's time to add the boba to the wok
05:11 once I start getting a rich toasty smell of brown sugar.
05:15 It might seem unnecessary,
05:17 but toasting the brown sugar really brings out
05:19 some extra aromas and flavors
05:20 that you wouldn't get otherwise.
05:23 Once the sugar and boba is combined, we're ready to go.
05:26 So now I'm gonna be making
05:28 the milk foam topping for our drink.
05:30 I'm using whole milk here.
05:32 We'll just get this going in a blender
05:35 and then add the mix to it so that incorporates evenly.
05:38 The topping mix is just a combination of a stabilizer
05:42 to give us a thick foam and some salty cheese flavoring.
05:47 We'll let it sit in the blender for about five minutes
05:49 while it whips up air into the mix.
05:51 Our milk foam is similar to what a lot of other places
05:55 will label as cheese foam.
05:57 It gives it a little bit of depth that's not just sugar.
06:00 After it's blended, it should be thick and aerated
06:05 and have almost doubled in size.
06:08 The milk foam is done
06:12 and it's ready to go on top of our drink.
06:14 So first I'm gonna add brown sugar boba to the cup.
06:18 And while I'm doing that,
06:19 I'll coat the sides of the cup with brown sugar syrup.
06:21 This ladle is actually just the same perforated wok ladle
06:24 that you'd see in any Chinese restaurant.
06:27 We've bent it down to the size of a cup
06:29 and it works really well at scooping
06:30 just the right amount of boba and syrup.
06:33 On top of the boba pour some milk in.
06:36 So it's important that the drink looks
06:38 as good as it's going to taste.
06:40 Next up, I'll add the ice.
06:42 And ice level is one of those things
06:43 that people love to change.
06:44 Some people really want less ice in it,
06:46 but the boba is hot in the cup.
06:48 So once you add the ice, it does really melt quickly.
06:52 So once the ice is in the cup,
06:53 we'll top it off with milk foam.
06:55 Not only does the milk foam
06:56 give the drink balance and richness,
06:58 it also serves as a platform
07:01 for us to sprinkle brown sugar on top.
07:03 The brown sugar that you get on top of the drink
07:06 is bruleed into a caramel candy
07:10 that sinks down into the drink
07:11 and you get bits of that as you drink it.
07:13 The silver ring's just there to protect
07:17 the sides of the cup from burning as we torch it.
07:19 So we tell the customers to make sure
07:23 that they stir 18 times before they drink
07:26 and it'll be the perfect amount of mixing
07:28 for the ingredients to combine.
07:30 Trust me, I'm an expert.
07:31 And if you're feeling extra luxurious,
07:35 you can add real edible 24-karat gold leaf
07:38 on top of your drink.
07:39 This is our signature brown sugar boba milk.
07:42 Rich, sweet, creamy, luxurious, still classic.
07:47 Next up, I'll be making ube boba milk with taro boba.
07:52 In order for us to make our taro boba,
07:54 we'll need to start with taro paste.
07:55 So first I'm gonna peel this taro root.
07:58 The skin of it is pretty thick and waxy,
08:00 so it takes some effort to get it off.
08:03 Taro's a type of starchy root vegetable
08:07 that's found in parts of Asia and Africa,
08:10 now South America.
08:11 In parts of Asia, they use it as a savory ingredient.
08:18 In Taiwan, it's got a long history
08:19 of being used as a dessert ingredient.
08:22 After we cook it, it'll be starchy and soft
08:25 and perfect for adding to our drink.
08:27 So we have a pot of boiling water,
08:29 and we're just gonna add sugar and taro to that
08:32 and let it cook down until it's soft.
08:34 After 30 minutes, the taro should be partially dissolved
08:38 in the water.
08:39 We hand mash the taro because if you use a blender,
08:43 the speed of the blades is too high,
08:44 so it'll tear the glucose chains of starch
08:47 inside of the taro and it'll become gummy.
08:51 So here we have taro paste in its final form.
08:54 As it cools down, it'll thicken up and stiffen up.
08:56 And once this cools down, I can use it for boba.
08:58 So now we'll move on to making our taro boba dough.
09:01 So the overall process that we'll have here
09:03 is similar to what you saw before,
09:04 but with just a few key differences.
09:06 Once the dough starts to come together,
09:15 I'll add in the sugar.
09:16 Using white sugar here instead of brown sugar
09:18 will help to highlight the taro's natural flavors.
09:21 So we'll scrape in the taro paste.
09:23 For taro boba dough, you have to watch it carefully,
09:26 so you remove it as soon as it comes together.
09:28 If you don't, it'll become sticky and stick to the bowl,
09:31 so you have to be a little bit more careful with this one.
09:33 Just gonna put a little extra starch on the counter
09:35 so this doesn't stick.
09:37 You can see here that I have to work a little bit harder
09:42 to get this dough out of the bowl because it is stickier.
09:46 Once I pull the dough out,
09:47 you can see immediately that it is much softer
09:49 and that it spreads out on its own a little bit more
09:51 than the brown sugar one does.
09:53 And as I'm kneading it,
09:54 I can really feel a difference in the consistency
09:57 of the dough, how soft it is, how easily it spreads,
10:00 and how sticky it is to my hands.
10:02 And here you can see little bits of taro inside the dough,
10:05 and that's something that we like to see.
10:07 Of all the doughs that we make,
10:11 this is probably the trickiest one to get right.
10:13 From here, the process is the same.
10:18 (upbeat music)
10:20 So the final pearls here, similar to the dough,
10:28 will be softer and more elastic than the brown sugar was.
10:32 The taro boba cooks much faster
10:34 because it does have its own starch
10:36 and because it does have more moisture in it.
10:38 Once I add the boba to the pot, I start stirring right away.
10:41 The taro boba is much stickier than the brown sugar boba,
10:44 so we have to really make sure
10:45 that it doesn't stick to the bottom.
10:47 So you can see here, once it's cooked,
10:49 the tapioca becomes clear,
10:51 but the taro stays whole inside of it.
10:55 Once these are cooked,
10:56 they'll go into a bowl with water and sugar
10:58 so that they don't stick together.
10:59 And these taro boba are ready.
11:01 Next, I'll be making the ube mix.
11:03 Ube is a root vegetable from the Philippines,
11:06 similar to a sweet potato or taro,
11:08 but it's got a more mellow, sweeter flavor
11:11 and is almost always used for desserts.
11:14 So I'll cut this ube down into smaller chunks
11:17 so it cooks faster.
11:18 So now I'll add the ube root to some boiling water.
11:21 This will cook for about 25 minutes until the ube is soft,
11:23 and then we'll blend it up with some sugar and coconut milk.
11:26 The cooking liquid has taken on
11:30 a lot of the color of the ube.
11:32 The coconut milk gives the ube mix
11:37 some creaminess and some richness,
11:39 and it's just got a more nutty, tropical flavor
11:43 that goes really well with the ube and with the taro.
11:45 Ube is not a traditionally Taiwanese flavor,
11:52 but it's really popular and it's really delicious
11:54 and it's really beautiful.
11:55 So we felt like it would fit perfectly
11:56 with what we're doing.
11:58 And with that, the ube mix is done
11:59 and we're ready to make our drink.
12:01 So one thing that's unique about this drink
12:03 is that we add sago as a topping to the drink.
12:06 Here we have some brown sugar sago.
12:08 Sago pearls are made from the starch
12:10 that comes from a sago palm,
12:12 and it's a common topping in ube desserts
12:14 in the Philippines.
12:15 So first I'll add taro boba to the cup,
12:17 and then on top of that, I'll add some brown sugar sago.
12:19 The sago pearls are similar to the tapioca pearls,
12:23 but they're a little bit firmer and they're smaller,
12:25 so you'll have the contrast
12:27 between the larger, softer boba pearls.
12:30 And on top of that, we'll add our simple syrup.
12:33 Add to that your milk of choice.
12:35 In this case, I'm using whole milk.
12:36 And stir that all together.
12:40 And put a layer of ice.
12:42 And finally, we'll top it off
12:45 with a layer of our ube mix.
12:47 Using the spoon here helps me keep a separate layer
12:49 of ube on top of the drink.
12:51 And here we have our ube boba milk with taro boba.
12:56 It's thick and it's rich.
12:57 It's not too sweet and it's perfectly balanced.
13:01 For our last drink, I'll be making matcha boba milk
13:03 with strawberry boba.
13:05 Matcha and strawberry is a classic combination,
13:09 so we're not reinventing the wheel here.
13:11 In contrast to the other bobas we've made so far,
13:14 this strawberry boba will be bright red, sweet, and fruity.
13:18 Once that's starting to come together,
13:20 I'll add our sugar, red yeast rice, and strawberry jam.
13:24 The strawberry jam is what gives it
13:26 its strong strawberry flavor,
13:28 but we add the red yeast rice
13:29 to give it a darker, richer, ruby color.
13:32 (gentle music)
13:34 The strawberry dough comes through the machine nice and easy.
13:51 And now that I've made enough strawberry boba,
13:53 I'm ready to cook.
13:54 Just like before, I'll stir the boba to make sure
13:57 that it doesn't stick to the bottom of the pot
13:59 and to make sure that it doesn't clump up.
14:01 This is the part of the process
14:02 that'll really bring out that red color
14:04 that we're looking for.
14:05 The cooked boba will be somewhere
14:07 between the two different bobas that we've shown you so far.
14:09 Softer than the brown sugar, but firmer than the taro.
14:12 This will cook for 25 to 30 minutes and rest for 10.
14:16 I'm using ceremonial grade matcha here,
14:18 the highest grade of matcha that you can get from Japan.
14:21 It's got a grassy flavor, but it's not bitter.
14:24 I'll whisk together matcha powder and hot water
14:27 until the top becomes nice and foamy.
14:30 You can see our cooked strawberry boba
14:32 has taken on a gem-like appearance.
14:35 We'll add our boba to our cup.
14:36 We'll top with a little bit of simple syrup
14:40 and in this case, whole milk.
14:43 And we'll stir to combine all of that.
14:50 Add our ice.
14:53 Other than cooling the drink,
14:55 it gives that mix something to cling onto
14:58 so that you can have that beautiful separation of layers.
15:02 I'll use a bar spoon to pour the matcha into the drink.
15:04 And here we have matcha boba milk with strawberry boba.
15:10 This is one of my personal favorite drinks.
15:12 I just love the way that the fruity strawberry boba
15:16 and the earthy matcha interacts with each other.
15:19 And that's the process for making
15:20 three unique boba drinks from scratch.
15:23 Boba is so much more than food or drink or dessert.
15:27 It's a part of our social lives.
15:29 It's a part of our culture and our humor and our identity.
15:33 So to see it reach so many new people
15:35 and for it to become that to them too is exciting for me.
15:39 (upbeat music)
15:41 (upbeat music)