Everyone has a past life, if you ask me

  I am convinced in my past life I was a Asian drag queen. I love all things Asian from the food, clothing, and culture. I own more chopsticks than forks. I can whip up more than a few Asian dishes but can't make a soul food dish to save my life.  So Friday during my grocery adventure my asian life came out in full force. Its not abnormal for me to venture to the Asian market in my neighborhood. The Viet Hoa is like my second home but Friday I couldn't tell you what in the blue hell I went in for but I came out with more than a few new things. It may be the fact that the entire market has undergone a makeover and since I had time to burn I was able to roam the new lay out.

  When I got to the register I walked out with a smaller ramen bowl, a Chow Mein kit, tapioca pearls, water chestnuts and baby corn. Plus my normal list staples of bean sprouts, tomatoes, avocado, napa cabbage and a pineapple. Now my mission was to make bubble tea and Chow Mein. The Chow Mein wouldn't be a problem but the bubble tea was a different story. I've had bubble tea in the past but never attempted it at home. Now was my chance! I googled a few recipes but they all contained condensed milk. Vom. So after jumping from site to site I figured out the basics on what I needed to do to make it vegan. So last night I went to work.

  Like I said the Chow Mein was not a problem. The kit was like making a giant vat of ramen. The only two differences were I had to drain the water and mix the seasoning pack with water and soy sauce before adding it to the noddles. I stir fried some napa cabbage, broccoli, water chestnuts, baby corn, bean sprouts and mushrooms and of course I added crushed red pepper. ( I need my spice)

  Like I said I've never tackled bubble tea but what makes it bubble tea or Boba Tea are the tapioca pearls. So I couldn't screw that part up. The directions seemed simple enough boil the water, SLOWLY add the pearls, stir softly, cover reduce heat and cook for 10 minutes. This was the most nerve racking process, I was terrified that I would screw it up and they would explode or something. For the tea part I decided to go the fruit route. I added two cups of vanilla soy milk, the whole pineapple plus two cups of ice to the blender and let the good times roll! After tasting I added a teaspoon of sugar, just for good measure. Since Keithon was home I had to share so I added pearls to his cup and to my birthday glass and SLOWLY poured the smoothie mixture over the pearls. Bubble Tea Success! I even had the correct straws to use. The Viet Hoa didn't carry them so I had to venture to Great China Food Market on Summer Ave. It isn't much of a market but they have all the cooking knick knacks I need. They even have porcelain sake cups for a buck! I have to go back!

As I am posting Keithon has requested more bubble tea so back to the kitchen I go. Plus I want more too. I may not have made the perfect bubble tea but by George I tackled it!