Monday, April 27, 2015

What is Boba? - A Must Try Food in Taiwan


Friends in Taiwan







What is Boba ?

Boba could be short for the Boba Tea. Boba also refers to the black little things in the tea. They are tapioca balls, made of the starch. It could be white too but most of the time it is black. The round shape of tapioca balls earns its name Boba, which means “big boobs” in Mandarin slang… For the sake of the clean look, we won’t be able to show you any visual illustrations... Please use your imagination to make sense of it…   A side note, you can also refer to a female with big boobs as “boba”. But it’s not the classiest compliment. I would probably just use it behind her back.

Back to the Boba Tea. It was invented in a tea house in the 80s in Taiwan. It wasn’t popular until the super sized straws were invented two years later. It has became a national beverage in Taiwan ever since. There are 8,000+ Boba tea cafes in Taiwan alone. You can buy it almost any time anywhere when you travel in Taiwan.


How to Order and Drink Boba Tea ?

The classic Boba Tea comes with black tea based milk tea. However you can pretty much add boba in anything you like. Green tea, fruit tea, juice, grass jelly, shaved ice, smoothies… etc.  Boba is usually covered with honey or syrup during the cooking process. Be sure to indicate a preferred sugar level when ordering your beverage. You can also replace milk with soy milk or no milk.  
Like all the food, it is the best when fresh. Drink your tea asap. Typically you would drink it with a big size straw.  Chew boba before swallow. 

What Makes Good Boba Tea?

The tea and Boba, duh.  Taiwan is famous for its tea. Many tea houses use quality tea leaves and fresh milk (not condensed or powered milk).  If you have a choice, go for it. It might cost a few dollars extra. It’s all worth it. Good Boba should be chewy, not hard (undercooked) or mushy (overcooked or left out for too long). If you are having it in its home town, the boba quality is very consistent throughout the island. 

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Friends in Taiwan Adventure

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