What is the purple boba tea called? Your answer in simple words is:
The popular sweet taste purple color drink is also sometimes called bubble taro tea (classic milk tea) and is made with purple ground root, tapioca pearls, and jasmine tea.
It is called 香芋奶茶 (Xiāng yù nǎichá) in Chinese which translates to ‘Taro Milk Tea’ or fresh taro milk tea.
Popular option across Asia in bubble tea shops, cafes, and also in Asian restaurants and Asian grocery stores across the western world
While there are plenty of taro milk tea recipes, this particular one will guide you to make a beverage with a rich and creamy taro flavor in purple color.
Refreshingly sweet and creamy, this delicious boba drink is perfect for hot summer days or the hot weather of the tropics.
How to make Taro Bubble Tea?
Main ingredients of taro bubble tea recipe:
- 150 g taro peeled and cubed
- 2 tsp of raw cane sugar (extra sugar)
- 3 tablespoon tapioca pearls
- ½ cup jasmine tea strongly brewed or other tea bags of choice
- 200 ml whole milk or plant-based non-dairy milk
- 1 teaspoon condensed milk or oat milk.
You can get most of these ingredients in your local Asian supermarket’s produce section
A simple recipe for how to make taro milk tea
Instructions:
- Boil the cubed taro root for 20 minutes on medium-high heat. It should be soft enough to poke through with a fork.
- Discard the hot water from the pot of water. Smush the cooked ground root until an even paste is formed.
- For a smoother taro paste, use a food processor or blender. Incorporate the brown sugar or granulated sugar while the fresh taro paste is still hot. Set aside.
- Add your boba to a boiling pot of water. Add 2 teaspoons of sugar and allow this to boil for 5-7 minutes.
- Once the boba begins to float these are done.
- Adjust the timing depending on how firm or soft you prefer them. Remove from hot water and set them aside.
- Brew the jasmine tea, to a rumbling boil, and let this mix well with the fresh taro root paste and condensed milk.
- Add the condensed milk and tapioca pearls to the mixture.
- Finally, in a separate cup put in ½ cup of ice, and pour in the blended raw taro drink.
Notes:
Calories: 480kcal
If you have sensitive skin, wear gloves while peeling the ground root to avoid your hands getting irritated from saponin.
What is the Taro in Taro Milk Tea?
Taro root is a vegetable used in a variety of cuisines around the world.
It has a mild, nutty taste, starchy texture, and nutritional benefits that make it a healthier alternative to other root vegetables like potatoes.
Fresh taro root is commonly added to savory dishes or fried as a snack, but it can also add a creaminess and a purple color to sweet recipes.
Raw taro is a tropical herbaceous plant native to Southeast Asia and part of the Araceae family, along with the malanga and eddo roots.
Featuring elephant ear-shaped leaves, the taro plant produces edible corms, a food staple in the Pacific Islands and the Caribbean.
In the world of bubble tea, the original purple drink has always been delicious taro milk tea with taro flavor.
With aesthetically pleasing purple hues and its unique sweet and nutty flavor, the raw taro root has undoubtedly become one of the world’s most popular ingredients of taro bubble tea.
Not only does this plant share potato-like qualities such as being a starchy root vegetable and having versatility with cooking, but taro is also commonly used for making bubble milk tea.
You can find taro root at international grocers like Latin American or Asian markets, though it’s becoming a more common staple in supermarkets that carry specialty produce.
As one of the world’s oldest cultivated plants, taro sometimes goes by different names including arbi, dasheen, and eddoe.
Different varieties can be used interchangeably to bring the nutritional benefits of your meal to the next level.
Health benefits of taro milk tea
Taro is rich in nutrients that can provide important health benefits.
A one-cup serving has a third of your daily recommended intake of manganese, increasing your metabolism, contributing to bone health, and preventing blood clotting.
Its high levels of Vitamin C can also promote healthy vision, skin, circulation, and immune system function.
In addition, real taro root offers other health benefits:
Improved Digestion
Real taro root has more than twice as much fiber as sweet potato potatoes.
Dietary fiber improves digestive function and can relieve health issues like constipation, diarrhea, stomach ulcers, and acid reflux.
Because fiber moves slowly through the digestive system, studies show that it also keeps you feeling fuller between meals, aiding in healthy weight management.
The carbohydrate content in taro root is what’s called resistant starch.
These good carbs have been shown in clinical studies to stabilize blood sugar, which helps with weight management and may reduce the risk of diabetes.
These starches are also suitable for low-carb and keto diets.
Heart Health
There are high levels of potassium in taro root, a mineral that helps to control high blood pressure by breaking down excess salt.
This reduces stress on your cardiovascular system, helping to prevent the development of chronic heart problems.
Lowers Risks Associated with Cancer
Taro root and its edible leaves are packed with antioxidants which is one of the most important taro tea benefits.
Quercetin, which comes from the vegetable’s purple pigment, is a powerful antioxidant that protects your body from free radicals.
Free radicals are molecules that build in your body due to aging and lifestyle and cause cell damage that scientists believe can lead to cancer.
What kind of Tea is used in Taro Milk Tea?
Bubble tea, also known as boba tea or pearl milk tea, is a very popular drink with purple food coloring that originated in Taiwan.
Jasmine tea is perfect for making bubble tea it is a very strong-flavored, bright tea that holds up well with milk.
Other types of tea commonly used are black tea, green tea, and oolong.
There are generally two main varieties of bubble tea: a tea-based beverage or sweet drink with a creamy flavor, that is mixed with milk (almond milk) and brown sugar simple syrup.
Regardless of the type of bubble tea, they’ll inevitably contain a small chunk of black, chewy tapioca boba pearls or tapioca balls at the bottom of the purple food coloring drink.
Taro bubble milk tea (taro bubble tea) with purple food coloring is commonly served with a wider straw so that with every sip of tea, you’re also enjoying a few tapioca pearls.
Watch out though, some boba pearls get stuck in the straw and I have often shot them down my throat!
There are some added benefits to the relaxing scent of jasmine tea.
It is believed that jasmine tea also can act as an aphrodisiac – just when you thought tea was tame!
Finally
So there you have it, a whistle-stop tour of the classic milk tea that you can make at home with my easy taro tea recipe and experience that bubble tea flavor.
As this drink can be consumed hot or cold there are different ways you can mix this up too whilst still keeping an authentic taste, from simply adding a handful of ice cubes on a hot day, maybe with an added dash of vanilla extract or your favorite syrups or simple syrup to make your own perfect drink. Enjoy!
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