Bingo 7: Bananas
Bananas are among other things kind of whimsical, definitely sweet, and have a tendency to overshadow anything they are put with. These are qualities also shared by bubble tea, and so for this square I have Bubble Tea: 50 fun recipes for boba and beyond. I don’t know why there hasn’t been a Despicable Me scene with the Minions getting bubble tea; I can totally picture that.
Bananas are also associated (at least in my mind, along with apples) school lunches (and basically any other fruit bowl that’s going to be sitting out for a day or few). The school connection is at the start of the book with a primer on how to brew various types of tea, including black, oolong, green, and herbal. And it’s actual recipe style instructions, including amounts, temperatures, and timings. The book is also pretty clear that these instructions are for bubble tea, meaning the tea needs to be a little stronger than you might drink plain. There’s even a little chart for a handful of the more common herbal options, like chamomile, hibiscus, and butterfly pea. This is also where I really figured out this book is British; it’s also got a spot for verveine tea in the herbal section; I didn’t know what that was. I looked it up, and it turns out I do know this one, just by another name (lemon verbena).
Sweeteners, and various flavoring options like purees and jams follow. Some of these are a little more grown up, since a lot of the syrups are herbal infusions such as basil (not doing that, as 1) not a huge fan of basil, and 2) it definitely takes over everything), Kaffir lime, mint, thyme, lavender, rosemary, cinnamon, etc..
The next two sections are the ones that I’m actually kind of excited to try, since the rest are the actual bubble tea combos and those I have some idea on already. First interesting part is making your own bubbles as in the pearls, and there’s a handful of different kinds including the standard brown sugar, but also sweet potato and a couple of fruit options. These really look pretty do-able. The problem is that the batches typically make enough for 4, and the recipe clearly says that the boba only keep for a few hours. So what do I do if I only want 1 serving for now? The fruit boba say you can freeze them, but is that also the case with the brown sugar? It’s not clear. I might try and see. The whimsey bit really shows up with the jellies and ‘other toppings’. Again, most all of this is doable and doesn’t look too time consuming or hard to source things for.
This seems like fun. We’ll have to see.
