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Tapioca Coconut Pudding

Have you tried bubble tea before?
Yes? No? Maybe?

Even if your answer is no, you might have heard of or seen it because it has taken the world by storm.

Bubble tea is known for shiny tapioca “pearls” sitting at the bottom of the drink. Those pearls are made from tapioca starch and give you a pleasantly chewy texture when you bite them.
You can’t go anywhere without seeing someone clutching that drink and I am one of them who is addicted to this texture.

This tea comes in a variety of different flavors, the most popular being
the fruity and milky. Mango milk tea, strawberry milk tea, honeydew milk tea,
matcha milk tea, coconut milk tea etc and all taste really good!!

But the most common problem when it comes to purchasing the bubble tea is the packaging. It’s all plastic!!!
The cups and over sized straws simply add to more plastic waste…

As for someone who is trying to promote a sustainable lifestyle, purchasing single use plastics in order to enjoy what I like does not make sense in my mind. I have bought bubble tea a few times before by giving
into temptation, but I couldn’t enjoy it because I felt guilty about purchasing single use plastic waste.

That’s how I started to make my own tapioca pearls at home.
It’s super easy to make following a few simple procedures.
150 pearls are easily made at once. So you can put them in your favorite tea or dessert and enjoy its beautiful appearance and texture as much as you want without worrying about plastic pollution!

So today I’ll show you how to make tapioca pearls and also for those who love sweet desserts, I want to share my favorite Asian sweets recipe using those pearls!

It’s silky, wobbly cold dessert with the extra exotic texture from tapioca.
I’m sure you’ll love it and become addicted to it just like me!

Tapioca coconut pudding

Serves: 4 ~ 5 servings
Time: 90 minutes

INGREDIENTS

For tapioca pearls
・100g tapioca starch
・70ml boiling water

For coconut pudding
・400ml coconut milk
・200ml almond milk
・70g coconut sugar
・10g agar agar powder

EQUIPMENT

4evaeco food container (medium size: 850ml)

 
INSTRUCTIONS

1. To make pudding, in a small pot, heat almond milk, coconut milk and coconut sugar over low heat. Keep stirring until sugar dissolve.

2. Once the sugar has melted, remove the pan from heat and add agar agar. Stir until completely dissolved.

3. After the agar agar has melted completely, chill the mixture using an ice bath bringing it back to room temperature.

4. Pour the mixture into a 4evaeco food container (850ml) and place in the fridge for 2-3 hours until completely set.

5. While waiting for the pudding to set, make tapioca pearls. Place tapioca starch in a medium bowl. Pour boiled water and stir with spatula until the starch starts to stick together.

6. Knead until the dough becomes smooth. (same softness as earlobe)
＊Do not add more water. If you do that, the dough becomes too wet.
If you think the dough is a bit dry, wet your hands with a little bit of water and knead the dough again.

7. Transfer to the cutting board and divide the dough. Roll each forming thin sticks.

8. Cut them into small pieces. Try to make them as even in size as possible.

9. Roll each piece in between your palm and index finger to make them round.
＊The dough becomes dry easily. If the dough is getting dry and you see little cracks, wet your hands with few drops of water and roll the pieces. Make sure you never wet your hands too much.

10. Add the tapioca pearls to the boiling water and let it cook for 15 minutes or longer until your desired consistency (soft or chewy) is achieved.
＊It will take more than 15 minutes if the pearls are bigger.

11. Remove from heat and let it rest for another 15 minutes or until the pearls are transparent.
＊Do not drain the water straight after cooking. Soaking and resting in the pot with hot water makes the pearls transparent.

12. Drain the water using a strainer, cool them in cold water to prevent them from sticking together.

13. Check the pudding in the fridge. If it’s set, decorate with tapioca pearls and your favorite fruit or toppings. Enjoy!

 
NOTES & TIPS:

– Tapioca pearls you normally see are black because of the food coloring. I don’t like using artificial coloring, so my pearls are natural clear color which I think are more beautiful.
If you mix brown sugar or coconut sugar into the tapioca starch, the pearls will have brownish color with slight sweetness.

– The pearls are best if used within a few hours of cooking, but will keep refrigerated for several days.
They will gradually harden and become crunchy as they sit. To slow down the pace of getting hard, cover the pearls in sugar syrup or just water. Just before you eat them, it’s better to cook again for few minutes until they are soft.

– You can also freeze leftover tapioca pearls in a 4evaeco food container with an airtight lid. To eat the frozen pearls, boil again until they are soft.

– It’s really fun making tapioca pearls, like playing with clay or play-doh. So you can enjoy making them with your kids!

– You can use 4evaeco silicone bases for stainless steel bowls as dessert moulds.

 
Hope you like and enjoy this recipe!