Balhyocha Bubble Tea with Kanten Jellies
Are you a bubble tea lover? Then have you thought that you can easily make your own boba(pearls) at home using kanten powder? Kanten (Agar-agar, 한천, 寒天) is a natural gelatine obtained from red algae and a 100% plant-based substitute to animal-derived gelatine.
Since Kanten Canada introduced the idea of making boba using kanten powder on their Instagram feed, I've been making and enjoying bubble tea at home, using their kanten powder as well as our Balhyocha (loose leaf) and Balhyocha Powder.
I'm introducing three different ways of making Balhyocha Milk Tea using our Balhyocha products. You can choose one of the methods that works best for you. Let's make Balhyocha Kanten Jellies, first!
Ingredients (for Balhyocha Kanten Jellies):
· 1 tablespoon Balhyocha Powder
· 4g Kanten Powder
· 500ml water
· 60g brown sugar
Instructions:
1) Add water and kanten powder into a saucepan and stir well before boiling.
2) Boil the mixture for approximately 2 minutes until kanten powder completely dissolves.
3) Add Balhyocha Powder and sugar, and stir well until they completely dissolve. Boil for another 2 minutes.
4) Turn off the heat and pour the mixture into a glass container.
5) Let cool at room temperature or in the refrigerator. (For your information, it is solidified at room temperature, and the mixture doesn't melt at room temperature.)
6) When it's solidified, cut the mixture out of the container using a knife.
7) Cut it into small pieces.
8) Store the jellies in the refrigerator. (Finish them within 2-3 days.)
Ingredients (for Balhyocha Milk Tea, 1 serving):
· 3g or 1 teaspoon Balhyocha Powder
· 30ml water, 90ºC (194ºF)
· 1 cup (8oz or 240ml) milk of your choice
· (optional) 1 teaspoon honey or your choice of sweetness
Instructions:
1) Whisk Balhyocha Powder in water until the powder dissolves.
2) (optional) Add your choice of sweetness into 1).
3) If you would like to have warm milk tea, microwave milk for 2 to 2.5 minutes. If you prefer cold milk tea (as shown in the photo), add cold milk into 1) and stir well.
4) Add 1-3 tablespoons of Balhyocha Kanten Jellies into your glass cup.
5) Pour the Balhyocha Milk Tea from 3) into the cup.
Other ways to make Balhyocha Milk Tea:
As I introduced the recipe for Balhyocha Milk in Soocha Tea Recipes before, you can also cold-brew 1 heaping tablespoon of loose leaf Balhyocha in 1 cup of milk for 24 hours in the refrigerator. The Balhyocha Bubble Tea in the photo below is made with the cold-brewed loose leaf Balhyocha in milk.
In the same cold-brewing method, you can also cold-brew Balhyocha Powder in milk. Traci Levy, the tea blogger from Tea Infusiast, experimented with this and shared on her Instagram feed. You can see the differences between the three different methods.