WEBVTT - Short Stuff: Boba Tea

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<v Speaker 1>Hey, and welcome to the short Stuff. I'm Josh, and

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<v Speaker 1>there's Chuck and Jerry's here too, Dave's here and spirit

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<v Speaker 1>Way to go, Dave, and this is short stuff.

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<v Speaker 2>I think I said that's right, and hey, we want

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<v Speaker 2>to wish Dave well he recovers from back surgery.

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<v Speaker 1>Yeah, yep, he made it out on the other side,

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<v Speaker 1>and we're very happy for him. That's why I said,

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<v Speaker 1>way to go, Dave.

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<v Speaker 2>That's right. I thought I didn't know if he wanted

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<v Speaker 2>to leave it unsaid either way.

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<v Speaker 1>I think Dave's happy with it, and he's like, you

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<v Speaker 1>guys can keep talking about me the whole episode.

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<v Speaker 2>All right, Well, where his nickname is Dave Boba TI, Well,

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<v Speaker 2>I'm not going to say his last name because I

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<v Speaker 2>don't want people to bother him. See, we just call

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<v Speaker 2>him the boba t guy.

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<v Speaker 1>Right.

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<v Speaker 2>I've never had boba t oh no no, and I

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<v Speaker 2>need to sure.

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<v Speaker 1>I think everybody needs to have it, at least once.

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<v Speaker 1>I had it once. I decided immediately I didn't like it.

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<v Speaker 1>Oh okay, I like everything about it except for the boba.

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<v Speaker 1>That's what I do like. I don't like that the

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<v Speaker 1>gelatinous gouey chewiness of it I'm not crazy for and

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<v Speaker 1>I can totally see how somebody would go nuts for it,

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<v Speaker 1>but I also see how somebody like me just is

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<v Speaker 1>turned off by it immediately.

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<v Speaker 2>Well, I don't want to try it as much because

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<v Speaker 2>gelatinous is never a word I seek out for my mouth.

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<v Speaker 1>So you can get boba tea without the boba, and

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<v Speaker 1>I'm sure the purists will be like, shut up, you

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<v Speaker 1>can't call it boba tea. You still can't. Everybody, settle down.

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<v Speaker 1>You just asked for it without the boba, and you

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<v Speaker 1>will love it. Chuck is very sweet and tasty, and

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<v Speaker 1>there's all sorts of neat flavors that they can put

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<v Speaker 1>into it, and it won't have gelatinous spears going down

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<v Speaker 1>your gullet because you accidentally forgot to chew.

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<v Speaker 2>They're gonna say, all right, we'll make you one, but

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<v Speaker 2>you're not getting one of those big fat straws they do.

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<v Speaker 1>They give you the big fat straw anyway, so you

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<v Speaker 1>go through it really quick.

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<v Speaker 2>All right, So we're talking about boba tea or bubble tea,

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<v Speaker 2>and that is something that you know, I'm kind of

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<v Speaker 2>a dummy the first time I say all that I

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<v Speaker 2>was like, what in the world is going on in

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<v Speaker 2>that cup? Because you know, you see what looks like

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<v Speaker 2>a regular drink, but then you see all these little

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<v Speaker 2>round pearls inside of a cup. And I didn't know

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<v Speaker 2>what it was until I looked into it more back then,

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<v Speaker 2>and now I know because of this that that is

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<v Speaker 2>a Taiwanese tea and it is. There are a couple

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<v Speaker 2>of different competing stories on how this came about, because

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<v Speaker 2>there are two rival tea shops in Taiwan from the

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<v Speaker 2>nineteen eighties that each say, no, my person is the

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<v Speaker 2>one who did this first.

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<v Speaker 1>Yeah, each one claims creation of Boba T initially. And

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<v Speaker 1>what's weird is there the stories are separated by just

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<v Speaker 1>a year. So the first one is Handling Tea Room

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<v Speaker 1>in Tainan, Taiwan and their founder Two Sung Ho. The

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<v Speaker 1>story goes that in nineteen eighty six, two found tepioca

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<v Speaker 1>balls on sale at the market and said, I'm going

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<v Speaker 1>to add these to my milk tea, like just had

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<v Speaker 1>this thought, random thought, and from that Boba T was born,

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<v Speaker 1>because basically Boba Ti is just tapioca balls added to

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<v Speaker 1>milk tea.

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<v Speaker 2>Right. The other story is remarkably similar. This is the

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<v Speaker 2>tea house that is a rival of the other called

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<v Speaker 2>Chun Shu Tang. I'm not sure if that's correct or not.

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<v Speaker 2>I'm doing my best, and they said no. In nineteen

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<v Speaker 2>eighty seven, we had a twenty year old woman working

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<v Speaker 2>here named Lynn su Hu who had this tapioca pudding

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<v Speaker 2>it's called Finnon in Taiwan, and she just dumped it

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<v Speaker 2>in her tea and drank it, and that's where it started.

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<v Speaker 1>Yeah, what's weird is everybody separated themselves from miss Lynn

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<v Speaker 1>immediately because they thought she was super weird. And yet

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<v Speaker 1>she may have invented boba t.

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<v Speaker 2>Right, So either way, we'll probably never know who's the

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<v Speaker 2>actual first person the first tea shop. But it was

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<v Speaker 2>a big hit in Taiwan. Eventually came over to the

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<v Speaker 2>United States in the nineties, starting where else on the

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<v Speaker 2>West Coast in California, mainly generally in Taiwanese communities at

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<v Speaker 2>the time, and then you know kind of started becoming mainstream,

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<v Speaker 2>and I feel like in the two thousands it really

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<v Speaker 2>really broke out as like kind of the hot thing

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<v Speaker 2>for hipsters to do.

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<v Speaker 1>Yeah, I was gonna say there's one hundred percent chance

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<v Speaker 1>that it was proto emo kids who brought it out

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<v Speaker 1>of the Taiwanese communities into American culture. Look at this, everybody,

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<v Speaker 1>So the you can't really talk about boba ta unless

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<v Speaker 1>you talk about milk tea, because that's kind of the

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<v Speaker 1>basis of it, and boba t's really new from the eighties.

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<v Speaker 1>Milk tea's not that old, considering how old Taiwan is.

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<v Speaker 1>It was just in the nineteen forties that a bartender

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<v Speaker 1>named Chang fan Chu got out of the bartending game

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<v Speaker 1>but still could not get the cocktail shaker out of

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<v Speaker 1>his hand and started mixing up teas handshaken milk teas

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<v Speaker 1>that would kind of froth and have bubbles, so it

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<v Speaker 1>became bubble tea milk tea, and that this went along

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<v Speaker 1>for several decades. People went crazy for milk tea, and

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<v Speaker 1>then eventually somebody thought, either to song Ho or Linceu Hui,

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<v Speaker 1>thought to add tapioca pudding balls.

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<v Speaker 2>That's right. So you've got milk, you've got the ice,

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<v Speaker 2>you've got black tea, and you've got those tapioca pearls.

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<v Speaker 2>There are all kinds of variations now, different kinds of tea,

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<v Speaker 2>different kinds of milks, non milks, you know, things like

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<v Speaker 2>you know, cashew milk and stuff like that, almond milk.

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<v Speaker 2>And then if you go to one of these, you know,

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<v Speaker 2>boba tea places in some large urban center, you're gonna

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<v Speaker 2>have all kinds of fun and crazy variations and flavors

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<v Speaker 2>and toppings and things like that.

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<v Speaker 1>Yep. So I say, we take a break and we'll

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<v Speaker 1>come back and tell everybody a little bit more about

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<v Speaker 1>boba tea. So, Chuck, I feel like you should take

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<v Speaker 1>the fact of the podcast. What boba means in the

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<v Speaker 1>first place.

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<v Speaker 2>Is it something to do with Dolly Parton?

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<v Speaker 1>Kind of?

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<v Speaker 2>Wasn't it about boobs?

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<v Speaker 1>Yeah? Boba is Taiwanese slang for boob, So they're basically saying,

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<v Speaker 1>this tea has a bunch of little boobs floating around

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<v Speaker 1>in it.

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<v Speaker 2>And that stuck.

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<v Speaker 1>Still yeah, still, because most people don't know what boba means.

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<v Speaker 2>I guess, so well, we should talk about those bobas.

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<v Speaker 2>Which is the tapioca And I wasn't even sure. I mean,

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<v Speaker 2>maybe I've had tapioca pudding, but it's a word I

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<v Speaker 2>had heard, and I don't think I ever fully knew

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<v Speaker 2>what even tapioca was, right, but tapioca or boba is tapioca.

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<v Speaker 2>That's it's a starch apparently extracted from cassava root, but

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<v Speaker 2>it can also be extracted from other things.

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<v Speaker 1>Right, Yeah, so kassava rus from South America, but it

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<v Speaker 1>grows really well in Asia to Southeast Asia, and in

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<v Speaker 1>particular the maritime Southeast Asia Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore,

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<v Speaker 1>and East Timor. Poor West Timor gets left out of everything.

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<v Speaker 2>Is there a West Timor?

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<v Speaker 1>I don't think so. Okay, I hope not now that

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<v Speaker 1>I said that. But they were making these pearls, these

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<v Speaker 1>tapioca pearls, not out of tapioca, but out of rice

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<v Speaker 1>or palm hearts. But the point is you're using a starch.

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<v Speaker 1>It's a ball of starch. Essentially. It's almost nutrient free,

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<v Speaker 1>heavy in calories. But if you prepare them just right,

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<v Speaker 1>when you add them to the bubble tea, if you

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<v Speaker 1>like that consistency, you're in heaven. Because they're chewy, they're mushy,

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<v Speaker 1>they're weird, and they're gelatinous.

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<v Speaker 2>Chewy like compare to like a gummy bear or as

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<v Speaker 2>they say in Germany, Goomi Bellin.

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<v Speaker 1>Is it really what they call it in Germany. Yeah, okay,

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<v Speaker 1>it's less chewy, but it's it's in a different way.

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<v Speaker 2>Can you com bear to anything?

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<v Speaker 1>Have you had bubble tea?

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<v Speaker 2>You got me, because for about a half a beat,

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<v Speaker 2>I was like, I don't think I have.

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<v Speaker 1>I can't, I can't, I can't. Okay, okay, no, no,

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<v Speaker 1>I can't imagine taking a ball of really sticky wet

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<v Speaker 1>rice and mashing it until there's no space between the

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<v Speaker 1>individual grains of rice and then chewing that. M Okay,

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<v Speaker 1>that's the kind of the closest I can come up with.

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<v Speaker 1>It's very starchy and sticky, and it can stick to

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<v Speaker 1>your teeth a little bit. It's it's nothing good if

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<v Speaker 1>you ask me. But again, I'm not. I'm not yucking

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<v Speaker 1>anybody's jum. I don't care if you like it or not.

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<v Speaker 1>It's fine, Yeah, it's it's just.

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<v Speaker 2>Not for me, all right, Well, I just have to

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<v Speaker 2>try it for myself. I guess if you're making tapioca

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<v Speaker 2>pearls yourself, you buy them dry. Apparently you boil them

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<v Speaker 2>for thirty minutes and then cool them for thirty minutes,

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<v Speaker 2>And it sounds like to really get that disgusting consistency

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<v Speaker 2>just right right that you hate. It's fairly specific, like

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<v Speaker 2>if you boil them too long, it's going to be

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<v Speaker 2>too squishy and maybe too sticky. And if you don't

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<v Speaker 2>do it enough there you can't chew them. They're too hard.

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<v Speaker 2>So it sounds like you gotta kind of hit that

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<v Speaker 2>sweet spot.

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<v Speaker 1>Yes, exactly, So there you can make your own boba

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<v Speaker 1>t now, right, that's all it takes.

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<v Speaker 2>I guess so. And then you know, you make your

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<v Speaker 2>your shake up your drink, and then you add your

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<v Speaker 2>tapioka pearls and you've got your own boba tea.

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<v Speaker 1>Yeah. And I think there's a Food and Wine article

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<v Speaker 1>about bobat and they said that there's a word in

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<v Speaker 1>Chinese for the perfect consistency of boba qq, like the

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<v Speaker 1>letter que. The letter q it means chewy. So wow,

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<v Speaker 1>we just came up with two Chinese slang words, Taiwanese

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<v Speaker 1>and a Chinese slang word. And now you know what

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<v Speaker 1>boba t is all about. And if you haven't tried it,

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<v Speaker 1>go out and try it. It's definitely worth trying. It's

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<v Speaker 1>not so disgusting that you're you're gonna just throw up

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<v Speaker 1>or anything like that. Although they have come up with

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<v Speaker 1>some that are really dancing right there on the edge. Yeah,

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<v Speaker 1>the one that got me. It was mentioned in a

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<v Speaker 1>Seattle Times post about Boba te that there's a salted

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<v Speaker 1>cheese topping that essentially has the consistency of like a

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<v Speaker 1>really flimsy cheesecake, but it's very salty. It's made from powdered.

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<v Speaker 2>Cheese that sounds good to me on its own.

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<v Speaker 1>On its own. Yes, this is floating on top of

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<v Speaker 1>a very sweet, milky tea drink. That's a weird combo

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<v Speaker 1>for me.

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<v Speaker 2>That is a weird combo. I do like a milk

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<v Speaker 2>in my hot tea, so like in my black tea

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<v Speaker 2>or my breakfast tea. So you know, I could see

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<v Speaker 2>me liking the tea for sure.

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<v Speaker 1>Yeah. If you ever go to one of these places

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<v Speaker 1>and they have a tarro or a dirty torro, get that,

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<v Speaker 1>just tell them to hold the boba or get two,

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<v Speaker 1>get one without the bobas so you can enjoy that

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<v Speaker 1>one and get one with the boba, so you can

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<v Speaker 1>try it at least once.

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<v Speaker 2>All right, I'll try it out.

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<v Speaker 1>Okay, Well, since Chuck said he's going to try it

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<v Speaker 1>out everybody, I means short stuff is Stuff You Should

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<v Speaker 1>Know is a production of iHeartRadio.

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