Taro Milk Tea with Taro Paste

Taste: Sweet; Technique: Boiling; Time: 45 minutes; Difficulty: Moderate.

Steps for Making Taro Milk Tea with Taro Paste

I couldn’t find the specific taro root used in the original recipe, so I used local taro roots instead. I steamed two larger taro roots until a chopstick could easily pierce through them.

I mashed the taro roots into a paste. I made a mistake and added some milk and blended it in a blender, but it became too thin and I had to cook it down to thicken it. Unfortunately, the final product was too sticky and lacked texture. I recommend keeping the taro paste a bit chunkier.

While the taro roots were steaming, I made the caramel for the milk tea. I added a little water to a thick-bottomed milk pot, poured in the granulated sugar, and cooked it over low heat until it caramelized. Don’t stir the sugar while it’s cooking; you can shake the pot to prevent it from sticking. After the water evaporates, the sugar will bubble and slowly turn brown.

Once the caramel turns brown, add milk and water, and then add the tea leaves to boil together.

After boiling, turn off the heat and let it sit for 20 minutes.

Filter out the tea leaves, and the milk tea is ready.

Mix cocoa powder and dark chocolate in a bowl with a spoonful of hot milk tea to make chocolate sauce.

Pour the chocolate sauce into the taro paste and mix well to make chocolate taro paste.

Choose a cup you like, scoop in the chocolate taro paste to cover the bottom, and use the spoon you used for the chocolate to smear the chocolate taro paste on the cup wall.

Pour in the milk tea, and you can add some nuts and marshmallows for decoration.

I like my milk tea hot, but if you prefer it cold, you can add ice or refrigerate it before drinking.