Vegan Yum Yum (43 page)

1 cup Better than Milk soy milk powder

1 cup sugar

Boba Tea (Variation)

cup water
(or soy or other milk if you prefer it super creamy)

¼ cup rounded boba tea powder mix
(from recipe above)

¼ cup
(scant)
prepared tapioca pearls

Chai Concentrate for Boba Tea (Variation)

Here's the rule: 1 ounce of tea or tea mix to every 4 cups of water. You can do this with green tea, black tea, whatever! This is a chai variation.

Chai Concentrate for Boba Tea

Makes 4 drinks (easily doubled)

Feel free to play with this recipe. Change up the quantities to emphasize your favorite flavors. This one is a little cinnamon heavy because that's my favorite. Place all of the ingredients in a pot on the stove. Heat on high until boiling. Once it boils, begin timing. Let boil, covered, for 8 minutes.
*
After 8 minutes, immediately strain. Refrigerate until use or use immediately for hot boba tea.

*
Note: Tea people. Don't wig out on me. Yes, you're boiling the leaves for 8 whole minutes. You're making a concentrate, so don't worry about activating the tannins in the tea. Once you add the sugar and soy milk powder for the drink, it won't be anywhere close to bitter, I promise.

Chai Boba Tea

Makes 1 drink (you can double, triple, etc.)

Combine first three ingredients, using a blender only if desired. If you're making it hot, you probably won't need a blender. It might be smoother if you use a blender for cold drinks. Add tapioca pearls to a glass, ice (if you're making a cool drink), and milky chai mix on top of that. Don't forget your boba straw. Serve.

Ingredients

Chai Concentrate

4 to 5 1-inch cinnamon sticks

1 1-inch piece of ginger, roughly chopped (chop finer for stronger flavor)

½ teaspoon black peppercorns

2 points star anise (broken off)

6 to 8 cardamom pods, broken/ smashed

½ teaspoon cloves

2 tablespoons black tea

4 cups water

Chai Boba Tea

cup chai concentrate
(see recipe above)

2 to 3 tablespoons Simple Syrup

2 tablespoons Better than Milk soy milk powder

3 to 4 tablespoons prepared tapioca pearls

½ cup ice
(if drinking cold)

Boba straws for drinking

Simple Syrup:

To make a simple syrup, put 1 cup of sugar and one cup of water into a medium-size saucepan and put on medium heat. Stir until the sugar is dissolved. After it has cooled, you can pour it into a glass jar and store it in the refrigerator to use in your boba tea recipes.

Ingredients

Simple Syrup

1 cup sugar

1 cup water

Horchata

H
orchata needs to be prepared in advance, as the rice and almonds need to soak overnight before completing the drink. You also need cheesecloth or a nut milk bag to strain out the ground-up rice and almonds. It's a really delicious, creamy, cinnamony rice milk that is wonderful on a hot day.

Horchata

Makes 4 to 6 servings

step 1
Blanch almonds for 1 minute in boiling water and drain. Slip them out of their skins and place them into the bottom of a large pitcher.

step 2
Grind the rice in a blender or a spice mill into as fine a powder as possible. Add this to the pitcher.

step 3
Drop in the cinnamon stick and the lime zest, if using. Add 4 cups of the water and stir. Let this sit overnight in the refrigerator.

step 4
The next day, strain the mixture through several layers of cheesecloth or a nut milk bag into a large bowl, squeezing the milk out of the solids and discarding the solids. (I strained my mixture three times to remove as many particles as possible.)

step 5
Add the sugar and up to 3 cups more water and chill until ready to serve. Serve over ice!

Ingredients

2 cups almonds, blanched, with skins removed

1 cup white rice, long-grain

1 2-inch cinnamon stick

Zest of 1 lime
(optional)

7 cups water

cup sugar

Pear Cherry Bellinis

T
his a wonderful drink for a party or a late brunch after the party. You can use canned pears if you don't have fresh. Rosemary sprigs are a beautiful garnish. You can also substitute dried cranberries for cherries if needed.

Pear Cherry Bellinis

Makes 4 to 6 drinks

step 1
Pour 1 cup of boiling water over the dried cherries and let sit until the cherries are plumped and the water is colored and flavored, about 15 minutes. Strain the cherries, reserving the cherry water.

step 2
Add
cup of the cherry water to a blender with the chopped pears, sugar, and lime juice until smooth.

step 3
Pour pear puree into champagne glasses, only filling half full. Add plumped cherries to each glass along with a sprig of rosemary. Just before serving, top off with champagne, sparkling water, or sparkling cider.

Ingredients

¼ cup dried cherries, plumped in 1 cup boiling water

cup cherry water
(reserved from soaking cherries)

2 pears, peeled and cored

2 tablespoons sugar

1 tablespoon lime juice

Rosemary sprigs, for garnish

Champagne, sparkling water, or sparkling cider

Rosewater Lassi

T
his is a wonderful summer drink. Most lassis in the states are mango flavored. They're certainly delicious, but I prefer this more basic lassi, which has been sweetened and perfumed with rose water. If you want it to be a bit more exotic, add a pinch or two of cardamom.

Lassis were originally salty, and in decent Indian restaurants, you can order a salty lassi, sometimes flavored with roasted cumin. I'm not that brave, however, so I stick to the sweet variety. I've never seen a soy lassi on a menu, sweet or salty, so if you've never had one before, you should give it a try at home. They're great in hot weather or served with spicy foods.