Family Meal Plan: Boba Recipes: Chef Flora's Fabulous Banana Boba + On-the-Go Ginger Cucumber Boba Tea

Chef Flora's Fabulous Banana Boba

Happy & Healthy Cooking,

Fun-Da-Mentals Kitchen Skills

• blend :

  to stir together two or more ingredients until just combined; blending is a gentler process than mixing.

• boil :

  to cook a food in liquid heated to the point of gas bubbles and steam forming (boiling point is 212 F at sea level).

• chop :

  to cut something into small, rough pieces using a blade.

• juice :

  to extract or squeeze out the juice of a fruit or vegetable, like a lemon, orange, or carrot, often cutting open or peeling the fruit or veggie first to access its flesh.

• knead :

  to work dough by pushing, pulling, and folding it by hand or with a stand mixer.

• roll :

  to use a rolling pin to flatten dough; use your hands to form a roll or ball shape; or move a round food, like a grape or a meatball, through another food, like sugar or breadcrumbs, to coat it.

• shape :

  to form food into a specific shape by hand or with a cutting tool—examples are cutting cookie dough into shapes with cookie cutters, forming bread dough into a roll or crescent shape, and rolling ground meat into a meatball.

• simmer :

  to cook a food gently, usually in a liquid, until softened.

• smash :

  to break up food into smaller pieces or squash food to flatten or soften it.

• steep :

  to soak a food, like tea, in water or other liquid so as to bring out its flavor.

What is Boba or Bubble Tea?

• Boba tea, also called bubble tea or pearl tea, is a sweet tea-based drink, primarily using brewed black, green, or oolong teas. The drink can be made with or without milk, and sugar and various flavorings are also added. What makes the tea drink a "boba" are the soft, chewy boba pearls found in the bottom of the glass. Boba tea is typically served cold.
• The drink originated in Taiwan in the 1980s. There are two different stories about who first created it. One story credits the Hanlin Tea Room in 1986, saying the owner, Tu Tsung-ho, was inspired by the white tapioca balls, a snack food, he saw in a local market. He bought some, cooked them, then added them to milk tea. The other story says that in 1987, Lin Hsiu-hui, an employee of the Chun Shui Tang teahouse, mixed tapioca balls, her favorite snack, into her iced milk tea, inventing the drink. 
• Boba tea took off in the 1990s, spreading across East and Southeast Asia, and eventually coming to the United States when Taiwanese immigrants brought it to California.
• The boba pearls are typically made from tapioca starch or flour that has been mixed with boiling water, creating a dough. Commercial processors have different methods, but you can also make them at home. After creating the dough, roll it out into long cylindrical shapes, cut them into small pieces, and roll them into balls. Cook the tapioca balls in boiling water until they are cooked through to the center and become gelatinous, or jelly-like, and chewy. 
• Sometimes, popping boba are used in boba tea. These are made by a culinary process called "spherification." This process uses sodium alginate and either calcium chloride or calcium lactate to shape liquid, like fruit juice, into spheres with gel-like skin, resembling fish roe (eggs). For example, sweetened fruit juice spheres that have undergone this process and are added to the tea will burst and release their juice inside when squeezed.
• There is a wide variety of flavored boba teas, including the flavors of fruit, nuts, flowers, grains, roots, seeds, spices, and more. Examples are honeydew, lychee, mango, strawberry, almond, lavender, rose, barley, taro, sesame, ginger, brown sugar, caramel, chocolate, and coffee.

Let's Learn About Vietnam!

• The Socialist Republic of Vietnam is in Southeast Asia. Its government is a Unitary Marxist–Leninist one-party socialist republic. China is on Vietnam's northern border, Cambodia and Laos border it to the west, the Gulf of Thailand is southwest, and the South China Sea borders it on the south and east. The country is long, narrow, and shaped like an "S." At its most narrow point, it is only 30 miles wide.
• Vietnam's total area is 331,699, and the population in 2019 was over 96 million. Hanoi is the capital city, and Ho Chi Minh City is the largest. 
• The national language is Vietnamese, and French is spoken as a second language by many older, educated residents of former South Vietnam due to French colonial rule. Minority groups may speak different languages in various parts of the country. English is also frequently taught in schools.
• The Vietnamese language has six different tones. The meaning of a word will change with a change in tone. This makes their language somewhat challenging to learn.
• Vietnam has been under the rule of other countries throughout its history, first under China from 111 BCE until 939 CE, when an independent dynasty appeared. The French colonized Vietnam in 1887. Then, in 1945, Ho Chi Minh declared independence from France. However, France claimed power again during the First Indochina War, but Vietnam was victorious in 1954. The Vietnam War began soon after, and the country was divided into communist North Vietnam and anti-communist South Vietnam. After the war, which the North won in 1975, the country was reunified as a socialist state.
• Vietnam exports the most black pepper and cashews in the world and is the second-largest exporter of rice and coffee.
• There are several floating fishing villages in Halong Bay on the northeastern coast of Vietnam. Boats and houseboats are tied together, where people live, work, shop, and go to school, so inhabitants rarely have to put their feet on land.  
• Due to the narrow streets and expensive cars and taxes, Vietnam has about 50 million motorbikes on the roads every day. Some people have two motorbikes, one for work and one for pleasure. 
• Popular sports are football (soccer), table tennis (ping-pong), volleyball, badminton, and martial arts. 
• Vietnamese cuisine consists of five basic tastes (elements): bitter (fire), salty (water), sour (wood), spicy (metal), and sweet (earth). It is known for its fresh, healthy ingredients, and rice is a staple, as it is in many Asian countries. Spring rolls, "pho" ("fuh"), a dish with noodles, broth, herbs, and meat, and "banh mi," a sandwich on a baguette filled with meat, cucumber, cilantro, and pickled veggies, are three well-known Vietnamese dishes found in the United States.

What's It Like to Be a Kid in Vietnam?

• Family is very important in Vietnam, and children may live with their parents and grandparents, and maybe even aunts and uncles. 
• Since children make up almost a quarter of the population, schools are overcrowded, and the school day may be either a morning or afternoon shift six days a week. School uniforms are required. Primary school is required from ages six to eleven, and after exams, it is determined whether a student will go on to a secondary school or a vocational school. 
• Kids who live in rural parts of the country may need to help with crops or livestock, and you might see them leading or riding domesticated animals, like water buffalo. 
• Sports they participate in include soccer, badminton, tennis, karate, swimming, and cycling. In addition, kids may play group games like Cat and Mouse or Dragon and Snake or board games like "O an quan."
• Kids may eat similar things for breakfast and lunch, such as pho, spring rolls, or banh mi, although they may eat oatmeal or pastries for breakfast in the cities.