Popping Boba is a common topper for fruit teas, boba teas, and other refreshers. This popular snack is made from seaweed extract, which contains fruit juice flavouring. You can create fruit juice spheres with an outer gel layer by a process known as spherification. To make popping boba, sodium alginate and calcium chloride are treated in a molecular gastronomy technique.
The taste of the fruit and how exciting it is when the boba pop inside the mouth has made popping boba extremely popular. The different fruit flavours bring bursting sensations to the popping pearls.
Tapioca Pearl vs. Popping Boba
When eaten by itself, boba made from tapioca does not have much taste. Tapioca pearls go well with milk teas due to their neutral flavour.
Popping boba is a sweet treat made from seaweed extract and fruit juice flavouring. Additionally, the popping boba bursts with fruit juice once it is bitten into, unlike regular boba which is chewy. Due to the fruit juice that bursts when popping boba is chewed, bursting boba is not paired with milk tea. The fruit juice and milk clashes and do not complement each other.
Tapioca pearls are made by cooking first, and the taste depends on the way it was cooked. In the case of popping boba, you do not have to cook it before using it. Store-bought popping boba only requires refrigeration for longer shelf life and does not need to be cooked before serving.
What is popping boba made out of?
If you’re making popping pearls, the key ingredients will vary depending on the flavour. Popping Boba has a distinct taste, which is determined by the fruit juice flavour that you will be using. Popping boba can be made at home using 4 ingredients only. These four ingredients are water, fruit juice of your choice, sodium alginate, and calcium lactate. Although sodium alginate and calcium lactate might sound intimidating, it is very commonly used ingredients in molecular gastronomy. Both sodium alginate and calcium lactate are very safe for consumption.
These simple ingredients will help you create boba through a process called spherification. Spherification is a molecular gastronomy technique, commonly used in cuisine, that uses sodium alginate and calcium salt to shape a liquid into squishy spheres, which resemble caviar.
Popping boba is becoming mainstream
Popping boba can be found in almost any bubble tea shop nowadays. In addition to topping frozen yogurt, it’s often used to top smoothies, iced green tea, and fruit drink. Bubble tea shops now offer “popping bubbles” or “bursting bubbles” on their menus. Popping boba is great for the health-conscious demographic too, as popping boba is low in calories and sometimes, sugar.
FAQs
What do you eat with popping boba?
You can enjoy popping boba with fruit teas, cold refreshers, yogurt, dessert, ice cream, and even cocktail and alcoholic drinks.
Is popping boba good with milk tea?
Milk does not go well with fruit juices. Popping boba is made out of real fruit juice, and it bursts fruit flavours once popped. Popping boba is not recommended for milk teas. Instead, enjoy the classic milk tea sinker tapioca pearls or traditional boba.
Conclusion
Popping boba might be the next favourite snack, as it can be enjoyed by all ages. The versatility of popping boba which can be tailored to one’s liking is one of its many charms. We recommend you to try them if you haven’t yet!
Let us know what you think of popping boba in the comments! Is it worth the hype?
