Boba balls and bubble teas have provided perky, bright-faced influencers with fabulous content for some time now. Before then, these chewy little balls of starch popped up on your (great) grandmothers’ tables as tapioca, most often in a pudding, though tapioca lends itself to recipes with creams and fruit in dozens of desserts. If you make tapioca, do it right; it’s all about accentuating the texture. Go to the trouble of buying tapioca pearls, which you can find online or at a grocery that carries quality Asian foods. Cook the pearls in water (1:8, one part pearls to eight parts water), boil until translucent, then strain and rinse in cold water to prevent clumping. Make a slurry with pearls and refrigerate before using. Add tapioca to pudding (as here), macerated fruit, or sweet drinks.
