Why are cassava dumplings named "boba"?

Who doesn’t want a cold and delicious bubble tea on a hot summer afternoon? Especially the kind with ice cubes and cream on top?

Pearls are the soul of pearl milk tea. They are chewy and elastic. After chewing one, you want to chew the second one and you can't stop at all...

But then again, when you are sipping pearl milk tea, have you ever wondered where these tiny pearls come from?

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Transforming “Plants” into “Pearls”

The "pearls" in bubble tea are also called tapioca pearls or tapioca balls. They are made from tapioca flour obtained by dehydrating and drying the cassava slurry extracted from the roots of the cassava plant. Tapioca flour is actually a type of starch. We can often see tapioca starch in imported supermarkets (the viscosity is quite good when thickening).

Cassava flour has a long history of consumption. According to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, its name "Tapioca" originated from the Tupi language spoken by the Portuguese when they first set foot in northeastern Brazil about 1,500 years ago. Its meaning is interpreted as "sediment" and "coagulant".

The roots of a cassava plant (Photo by David Monniaux)

In order to get tapioca pearls, one of the more common methods is to mix tapioca starch with boiling water (mixing with boiling water is also called "scalding noodles" in the north, hahaha~) until it reaches a consistency that can be kneaded. Then, cut the dough into portions of the required size and roll it into balls. This process is very similar to rolling "dough pieces" when making steamed buns and dumplings.

Opaque "tapioca pearls" before soaking (Photo by Una Smith)

This is just the semi-finished product of tapioca pearls. Generally, merchants sell raw tapioca pearls and semi-cooked tapioca pearls that have been gelatinized. No matter which type of tapioca pearls, they must be boiled for a certain period of time before they can be eaten . In some areas, people even try to chew the boiled tapioca pearls to determine whether the center of the tapioca pearls is cooked through.

(You’ve probably come across a milk tea shop owner who didn’t cook the tapioca pearls thoroughly, which was really annoying…)

Half-cooked cassava balls that are cooked in just 5 minutes (Photo by Eric Molina)

After being boiled, the tapioca pearls will expand by 2 times in volume, becoming both bloated and tough, with a chewy texture, and will change from opaque to translucent. However, you can't just leave it there after boiling. If you want to add tapioca pearls to milk tea or other drinks, you need to soak them in syrup. If you soak them directly in water, the tapioca pearls will slowly harden and eventually become soft and lumpy.

Putting it in syrup can increase the sweetness of tapioca pearls, and sugar can effectively prevent tapioca pearls from clumping. So you often see the boys and girls in the milk tea shop scooping a large spoonful of sticky liquid from a large jar after making milk tea. Those are the tapioca pearls soaked in syrup.

Tapioca pearls are called sābudānā in parts of South Asia, and in some places they are also called boba (I won’t go into the Chinese translation, don’t listen to it…)

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“Tapioca Pearls” are actually a “low-end” substitute?

Although it is called "pearls", tapioca pearls are actually the "big wronged species" that are used as "low-end" substitutes. From the previous introduction, we know that the tapioca pearls in milk tea are actually a small dessert similar to jelly made from starch.

In Southeast Asia, this way of eating small desserts made of starch has long been popular, by adding them to dishes, drinks or desserts. However, the "pearls" used at that time were not cassava pearls, but pearls made from palm hearts or glutinous rice, which were jokingly called "traditional" pearls. Among them, pearls made from palm hearts are also called tapioca pearls or tapioca pearls.

Fresh palm hearts (Photo by mhoenig)

Thai long-grain sticky rice (Photo by Takeaway)

However, palm hearts and glutinous rice are expensive, so the "traditional version" of pearls is relatively expensive and most people could not afford it at that time.

During the colonial period, people in Southeast Asia introduced cassava from South America and found that it also produced good starch, and the planting cost was low and the price was low, so they began to use "pearls" made from cassava starch to replace "traditional" pearls. After adding them to dishes, drinks or desserts, they were surprised to find that there was almost no difference in taste and texture between cassava pearls and "traditional" pearls, and they could be completely mistaken for the real thing.

Bilo-bilo (left) is a popular dessert in the Philippines. It contains coconut milk, sugar, and traditional "pearls" made of glutinous rice flour, and jackfruit, banana, etc. After the birth of tapioca pearls, cheap "low-end versions" appeared. It is native to Luzon Island in the Philippines, and in other parts of the Philippines, it is also added with coconut meat and pandan leaves. The traditional way to eat it is hot, but some people like to eat it after refrigeration. (Photo by Televido)

Es campur (right), a shaved ice dessert popular in Indonesia, is made with fruit cocktail, coconut, tapioca pearls, grass jelly, etc., served with shaved ice, syrup and condensed milk. In Indonesia, it is sold from street stalls to large restaurants. (Source: kompas.com)

Binignit is a sweet soup popular in Visayas, Central Philippines. It is traditionally made with sticky rice cooked in coconut milk, various slices of Sabah bananas, taro and sweet potatoes. Tapioca pearls were later added. Neighboring Leyte uses a traditional version of "pearls" (sago) made from palm hearts. This is a popular afternoon sweet soup in the area, and some locals like to refrigerate or even freeze it, just like ice cream. (Photo by Obsidian Soul)

The "traditional version" and "low-end version" of pearls were introduced into Chinese food culture after being discovered by Fujian compatriots living overseas. Initially, because the appearance was particularly similar to frog eggs, they called cassava pearls "frog eggs" regardless of the consequences of the public's loss of appetite, and the beverage with cassava pearls was also called **"frog egg beverage"** (emmm, I want to hit someone...).

Since the original tapioca pearls were relatively small, with a diameter of about 2mm, they were also called "pearls" in Taiwan, which is more appetizing. But later, a variant of tapioca pearls with a diameter of 6mm appeared, and a milk tea shop owner actually called it Boba ...

Sagu: Tapioca pearls were later introduced to Brazil, the origin of cassava, and a dessert called Sagu (wine tapioca) was derived. Although the pearls inside are not tapioca pearls, but tapioca pearls, it is still called "sago" locally. Wine tapioca is made of tapioca pearls, sugar, wine, and cream on top. It is very popular in Rio Grande do Sul in southern Brazil. It can not only be eaten alone, but also added to tea drinks. The left picture shows the finished Sagu, and the right picture shows the tapioca pearls in Sagu (Photo by Scheridon)

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Cassava is a "super staple"

After all this talk, is cassava really just a supporting role in beverages and desserts? It is a "super staple food".

Cassava plants (Manihot esculenta) are native to the northern and northeastern regions of Brazil. They are well adapted to the local tropical lowland environment and are much better able to cope with poor soil than other edible plants.

Cassava is the third largest source of carbohydrates in tropical regions, second only to rice and corn in providing carbohydrates to tropical people, and is one of the main staple foods (cassava flour) in developing countries. According to statistics from the U.S. Department of Agriculture's National Nutrient Database, as of 2018, cassava provided a basic diet for more than 5 billion people worldwide.

Cassava, painted by Albert Eckhout, a Dutch still life artist in New Holland (a Dutch colony in Brazil) in the 17th century (Albert Eckhout)

However, as a staple food, cassava flour has a big defect in nutritional value . According to the data of the National Nutrient Database of the United States Department of Agriculture, cassava flour mainly provides carbohydrates for the human body. The carbohydrate content in dry cassava flour is as high as 89%. Every 100 grams of dry cassava flour can provide more than 350 calories.

However, its content of protein, vitamins and minerals is extremely low. Even so, due to the shortage of food in Southeast Asia during World War II, cassava flour once became the "life-saving ration" for a large number of refugees.

To be honest, there are many staple foods that can be made from cassava flour.

Cassava bread: As early as the 16th century, there were records of the indigenous Taino people in the Caribbean making cassava bread with cassava flour. The picture on the left shows a scene in 1565 of Taino women grinding cassava roots into a paste, kneading them into bread dough, and then placing the bread dough on a heated stove to bake.

Biju: There is a staple food in Brazil called biju. First, wet the cassava flour, then filter it with a sieve to get "coarse powder", and then sprinkle the "coarse powder" on a heated baking tray or pan. The heat can make the wet coarse powder blend into a large pancake, and finally spread butter on the surface, like toast. Locals often use biju as breakfast. Biju can be filled with cheese, bacon, chocolate, coconut meat, condensed milk, banana slices, strawberry slices, peanut butter, cinnamon, etc. The variety of varieties can almost compete with the "big pancake with everything" in my hometown of Tianjin... (Photo by Anizio da Silva)

Casabe: Cassava rhizomes are ground into cassava starch slurry, which is poured directly onto a round baking tray without fermentation. The round pancakes are called Casabe, and are a favorite food of the indigenous people in eastern Venezuela. They can be eaten directly, and are thin and crispy, like cookies. (Photo by Inespm)

Cassava noodles: Cassava noodles made from cassava starch in Kampong Cham Province, Cambodia (Photo by Neil Palmer)

Cassava Cake: A delicacy from the Cayman Islands, it is baked with a mixture of cassava flour, coconut milk, vanilla, brown sugar, salt, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg and other ingredients (Source: www.flickr.com)

Although cassava can be used in a variety of ways to make a variety of delicious foods, it contains anti-nutritional factors and toxins. Cassava is divided into bitter and sweet varieties, both of which contain anti-nutritional factors and toxins, and the content of bitter varieties is relatively much higher.

Therefore, cassava must be fully processed before consumption. If it is not handled properly, a certain amount of cyanide will remain , causing acute cyanide poisoning in the eater, which may result in thyroid swelling at the mildest and paralysis or death at the worst.

Look! The tiny pearls in bubble tea actually hide such a big secret!

References:

[1] Thomson, Julie R. (2015-07-13). "So What Exactly Is Tapioca, Anyway?". The Huffington Post. Retrieved 2022-06-17.

[2] Olsen, KM; Schaal, BA (1999). "Evidence on the origin of cassava: phylogeography of Manihot esculenta". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. 96 (10): 5586–91.

[3] "Cassava processing - Cassava flour and starch, Baked tapioca products, Cassava products for animal feeding, Cassava starch factories"

[4] Hutton, Wendy (2012). Southeast Asia's Best Recipes: From Bangkok to Bali. Tuttle Publishing.

[5] Alford, Jeffrey; Duguid, Naomi (2000). Hot Sour Salty Sweet: A Culinary Journey Through Southeast Asia. Artisan Books. p. 323.

[6] "Sagu de vinho tinto (Tapioca Pearls in Red Wine)". Sabor Brasil. Retrieved 28 June 2019.

[7] "WWII Survivor Plants". Changi Museum. Retrieved 24 June 2012.

[8] "Cassava". Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Archived from the original on 18 November 2016. Retrieved 24 November 2011.

[9] Fauquet Claude; Fargette Denis (1990). "African Cassava Mosaic Virus: Etiology, Epidemiology, and Control" . Plant Disease. 74 (6): 404–11.

[10] Afedraru, Lominda (31 January 2019). "Uganda to launch innovative gene-edited cassava research". Alliance for Science. Retrieved 15 August 2021.

[11] "Dimensions of Need: An atlas of food and agriculture". Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. 1995.

**Author of this article: ****Qu Shiyi, ** Master of History School of Wuhan University,

Shang and Zhou dynasty archaeology direction.

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