359842 Sat Jan 13 04:02:23 -0800 2007 30 27 General Chowhounding Topics 0 2184218 I was in Chinatown in the spring, and I saw some Asian ladies sipping, and using a long spoon, to eat a thick beverage that had gelatinous chunks in it. I pointed to it and asked for one, too! It was cold, served in a tall glass with a thick straw, lightly sweet, very unusual but quite good. My question is..What was it. what was in it, and which Asian cuisine did it belong to?! BTW, my teenaged daughter was so disgusted by it, she couldn't even watch me eat it! Sat Jan 13 04:02:23 -0800 2007 65017 goodfoodlovr 1 2184219 Bubble tea. The "chunks" are tapioca beads. Sat Jan 13 04:03:16 -0800 2007 2184218 13747 Mazzer 2 2184233 Thanks! Do you know its real name, or what culture it belongs to? Sat Jan 13 04:11:43 -0800 2007 2184219 65017 goodfoodlovr 3 2184734 Well, the original bubble tea started out in Taiwan as a snack for schoolkids... the chunks, if they were brown, were sweetened boiled tapioca. Those tapioca balls (usually called "boba", though that's not the politest word in Taiwanese) make their way into a variety of other smoothies, ice blended drinks, and even something called "Finland juice" which contains a raw egg. Sat Jan 13 13:30:59 -0800 2007 2184233 10811 Das Ubergeek 4 2244082 Mr. Geek, do you know by any chance where one buys the dark brown boba to cook themselves? I frequently shop at asian markets and I have only seen the white ones, never ever brown. Or do they start out white and something goes in the cooking water, prehaps? Tue Jan 30 20:58:06 -0800 2007 2184734 63062 Saucey 5 2251086 These tapioca balls are quite chewy (if cooked properly)... some liken the consistency to gummy bears. Is this what you had? From my experience, I believe most Asian markets sell tapioca that you can cook yourself. They aren't white; I've used bags of light brown-colored tapioca. As with the white ones, the light brown disappears through cooking and you're left with the dark brown cooked tapioca balls. There are variations on the tapioca balls now and I've seen bags of multi-colored tapioca sold in markets. Also, frozen tapioca balls are also available now, as well as boba milk tea packages where you can everything in one package to make boba milk tea (boba, tea, straw, etc). Thu Feb 01 15:43:42 -0800 2007 2244082 63913 gsmoose 1 2184392 It's originally a Taiwanese drink, and it's sometimes even referred to as "frog's egg milk" in Taiwan. This Wikipedia entry gives a decent overview of its origins: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bubble_tea. Sat Jan 13 05:47:19 -0800 2007 2184218 24697 ArtemisNYC 2 2184884 Thanks for the origin info! the Wikipedia article was very informative as well. This is the 1st question I posted to Chowhound and I'm overwhelmed at the response! Sat Jan 13 15:07:52 -0800 2007 2184392 65017 goodfoodlovr 3 2186628 I appreciate it, and keep the posts coming! Sun Jan 14 02:04:35 -0800 2007 2184884 24697 ArtemisNYC 1 2184418 AKA Boba Tea. Here's another link w/ a photo: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boba_tea Sat Jan 13 06:00:22 -0800 2007 2184218 27275 ML8000 1 2184525 Was it coconut milk based? There are also drinks called "Bing," meaning ice, and can be served with red bean, or with fruit cocktail, or with the gelatinous chunks, and they are sweet and slushy. Those are more commonly eaten with a long spoon. Tapioca balls in the boba drinks are a translucent black and very chewy but flavorless apart from the sugar syrup they've absorbed. Can be found in teas, ice slushes. Hope that helps. Sat Jan 13 07:35:55 -0800 2007 2184218 11000 Quik 2 2184882 Thanks! It could have been a bing, now that you mention it. Originally I remembered a rice-y flavor, but the more I think about it, maybe it had a coconut flavor. Talking about this makes me want to go back to Chinatown in NY to try it again! Almost 100% sure there is no bing, bubbletea, or boba in Ohio! Sat Jan 13 15:03:56 -0800 2007 2184525 65017 goodfoodlovr 3 2191352 You might have had coconut jelly instead of tapioca pearls. They're white translucent little strips and are a little less chewy than the pearls. They also have more flavor than the pearls. My favorite place (Porter Square outside Boston) will give you half and half between the two. Mon Jan 15 20:21:30 -0800 2007 2184882 13574 pamalamb 1 2184531 Your daughter was disgusted by it? Disgusted by what? Watch her pass out when you try this drink. "Start with a popular durian drink, sold at boba or bubble tea stores. In San Francisco, there is only one chain I like (4 stores owned by the same family in the area), and that is Sweetheart Cafe, which uses real fruit. Ask for "durian smoothie with pearls", one of their best sellers. (Oh, I actually saw some durians at Berkeley Bowl today. They looked fresh, not frozen.) http://www.chowhound.com/topics/353829?query=&user_name=grocerytrekker Sat Jan 13 07:43:19 -0800 2007 2184218 61426 grocerytrekker 2 2184877 Oh I 've heard the tales of the legendary durian! I think I might pass out myself if I tried that! Sat Jan 13 14:59:21 -0800 2007 2184531 65017 goodfoodlovr 3 2184957 Actually, when you order a durian "shake" as they often call the milk based drink here in NY, it isn't overwhelming in taste or smell. It's the perfect introduction to durian because you get all the good flavors (vanilla, custard, banana, and sometimes just the faintest hint of garlic) without the bad (puke, stanky feet, locker room, diesel fuel, benzene, garbage can on a hot day.) Almost all the time the drink is made with frozen durian which is processed when it is barely ripe, mild, and pleasant tasting. It is the very ripe and over ripe durian that is so intense in taste and smell. So take a chance some time and try it. The worst that can happen is that after a sip or two it isn't to your taste and you spent $2. Then forever after you have the bragging rights that you've tried durian. If you get a chance there is an interesting Southern Asian desert made from crushed ice, condensed milk, various jelly pieces, sweet beans, sweet corn kernels, etc. that is like a cold, solid version of bubble tea and the other milky drinks. I don't remember which cultures serve it besides Malaysian and Indonesian. I encountered the best version in Cambodia where they had a dessert bar where you made your own, which had around two dozen tasty ingredients in it. Sat Jan 13 15:47:05 -0800 2007 2184877 10732 JMF 4 2185256 that dessert sounds like halo-halo, a filipino "drink"/dessert Sat Jan 13 17:50:14 -0800 2007 2184957 20957 sweet ginger 4 2187299 without the corn: Korean pahtbingsu (paht = red bean) Sun Jan 14 08:48:57 -0800 2007 2184957 17463 PseudoNerd 4 2187546 We call that Taiwanese slush here -- you get to pick three or four ingredients, and you get ice and condensed milk on top. Sun Jan 14 14:53:44 -0800 2007 2184957 10811 Das Ubergeek 5 2188992 There's a Vietnamese version also, sometimes called rainbow drink or che ba mau. It's in colored layers which may include an assortment of mung beans, red beans, coconut milk, a green gelatin cut into strips, litchi, or other odds and ends served over crushed ice. Mon Jan 15 00:39:05 -0800 2007 2187546 25244 rockycat 1 2187047 Bubble tea is everywhere here in Portland. But I don't like the sweet varieties. It gets so confusing when I see a menu with 30 choices! How do I ask for a plain green tea type that isn't sickenly sweet? Also I like minimum-to-zero ice. Sun Jan 14 05:18:55 -0800 2007 2184218 13853 Leonardo 2 2187529 Wow, this is opening a whole new world to me! If bubble tea is rampant in Portland, maybe I should open my own shop here in Ohio...maybe call it Bubblebucks! Sun Jan 14 14:41:43 -0800 2007 2187047 65017 goodfoodlovr 3 2191837 Chowhound IS a whole new world, welcome! :) I like "Bubblebucks"--funny, I wish I'd thought of it. Maybe, in the Midwest, we'll have Caribubble. ~TDQ Mon Jan 15 22:28:04 -0800 2007 2187529 12005 The Dairy Queen 1 2187089 I've never seen anyone use a spoon with a boba drink. Makes me think you had something else. I'm no expert, but I've seen plenty of Chinese/other Asian dessert drinks with all sorts of things at the bottom, gelatinous and otherwise: grass jelly, salted plums, chunks of canned fruits, "nata" coconut jelly, red or green bean, etc. If the ladies were using a spoon, I think what you had was more along those lines. Sun Jan 14 05:46:16 -0800 2007 2184218 46956 maestra 2 2187533 that does it! I really need to go back to Chinatown, NYC and try to find that place again and pin down EXACTLY what it was! If I do, I'll report back. Regarding the Durian shake: that really doesn't sound too onerous! Maybe I'll be brave... Sun Jan 14 14:44:15 -0800 2007 2187089 65017 goodfoodlovr 1 2187090 mmmm, i looooove the honeydew bubble tea with extra tapiocas and crushed ice! it's sweet though, maybe not what you are looking for. other than the honeydew, i haven't really liked any of the other flavors i've had. Sun Jan 14 05:46:21 -0800 2007 2184218 13386 rabidog 2 2187575 My son loves this stuff, but I agree that it is often far too sweet. Finally I just asked the woman who owns the stand if she could make me one that was less sweet. She just uses a frozen mix so the result is basically a diluted bubble tea, but I like it much better that way. Sun Jan 14 15:07:30 -0800 2007 2187090 19937 Kater 3 2249124 in indonesia... this drink is called chendal (I think it's the correct spelling). Thu Feb 01 08:11:28 -0800 2007 2187575 67788 shastashark 1 2771641 ITS CHE BA MAU FOR SURE--> VIETNAMESE drink . Go to a vietnamese restaurant and see--- thick, gelatinous, long spoon, tall glass, thick straw, slightly sweet, ricey, it should have beans and stuff i'm pretty sure its not bubble tea, thats just odd. Sat Jul 21 20:01:30 -0700 2007 2184218 113460 elletu 1 2792652 Yes it is called Chendal. My family is Dutch and Indonesian and I have been drinking Chendal since I was knee high to a grass hopper. The typical recipe we use is with tapioca balls and/or agar agar cubes (gelitan cubes with a light coconut flavor) layered with ice and then pour mixed coconut milk with coconut sugar(liquid) to taste and water. I personaly use a 1:1:1 ratio. Its ment to be semi sweet and eaten with a long spoon if your using tall glasses. If you have short glasses feel free to use short spoons. A great substitution to tapioca or agar agar is to take rice flour, sugar, ground pandan(leaves of the screwpine tree) and water in a pan heat and mix then slowly pour the mix into ice water. It will form little green strings with a delicate sweet flavor. It is the best drink for a hot afternoon. Catch you later and happy sipping. Sat Jul 28 19:06:00 -0700 2007 2184218 115067 thebauerguy 2 2792914 In Malaysia and Singapore, it's a regular dessert option as well. So that is how they make those green strings! Sat Jul 28 21:37:54 -0700 2007 2792652 64003 bulavinaka