Amidst the last heatwave, I took out the tapioca flour, turned up the stove, and rolled together a couple hundred (???) boba balls. Homemade boba is probably the ceiling to my quarantine baking, as it is time-consuming, tedious, and rather inexpensive to purchase otherwise.
At the same time, the pearls turned out so QQ and delicious, so I’m kind of looking forward to making another batch with the remaining tapioca flour.
To make the boba pearls, I followed this recipe and watched the author’s YouTube video 100 times. Sadly, my first batch was thrown out; the flour didn’t form a sticky dough because I didn’t dissolve the brown sugar in water properly, resulting in what the author calls “over gelatinization or lack of gelatinization.”
Luckily, I had a bit more patience the second time and soon began forming these carpal tunnel-inducing dough balls.
Quick tip: using your index and middle finger to roll them around the palm of your other hand is better than rolling them in between the palms of both hands.
After boiling the pearls for 20-30 minutes in an already hot kitchen, I taste tested them before confidently offering free delivery to neighbors & friends. Their refreshing drinks made the +100 degree drive somewhat worth it.
Lemon tea boba 
? 
Genmai cha boba
Lauren’s genmai cha boba looks the most legit because she somehow had a real boba straw on hand. While others enjoyed their teas (except one who ate the boba straight out of the ziplock bag), I had my freshly made pearls with milk, the simple Taiwanese way.
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