How To Have A Bubble Tea Party

If you’re thinking of throwing a little get-together for friends and family in the near future (lockdown restrictions permitting, of course!) and can’t decide on a theme for the event, what about hosting a fun bubble tea party, something a little different for your loved ones to enjoy.

It’s easy to make bubble tea at home and it comes in a wide variety of different flavours, with all sorts of interesting and delicious toppings and flavours available, so you’re sure to be able to find something to suit everyone.

The drink itself is made up of either a fruity or milky tea and then a topping of your choice, whether you go for something traditional like tapioca pearls, popping boba or delicious cubes of flavoured jelly… you’ll have a great time working out what kind of toppings to provide for everyone to make their own drinks.

Of course, you’ll also need to provide food for everyone since it’s a tea party - and no tea party is complete without cake and sandwiches. Since bubble tea first originated in Taiwan back in the 1980s, it might be a nice idea to run with that as a theme for the food and serve up some yummy traditional Taiwanese fare.

Pineapple cake is an absolute must for your table, a very delicious treat that’s usually either square or rectangular in shape. It’s made with a shortcrust pastry and has a pineapple filling, occasionally decorated with nuts - check out this recipe if you want to have a go at making your own.

Another dessert to consider serving up is Fa Gao, prosperity cakes that are eaten during Chinese New Year. They sound relatively simple to make, so even if you’re not that experienced in the kitchen, you should be able to whip up a batch quite easily.

You will need to get yourself some rice flour, however, so plan ahead to give yourself enough time to gather the ingredients.

So that’s all the cake sorted, but what about more savoury options? Not everyone has a sweet tooth so you need to cater for all sorts of different tastes… and Taiwanese sandwiches are sure to be a crowd-pleaser.

If you have the time, consider making your own Taiwanese bread, which uses plain flour instead of bread flour and is very soft and sweet, then filling it with ingredients of your choice, featuring Taiwanese flavours. These aren’t especially strong but you’ll find lots of spring onions, garlic and basil in dishes, so bear this in mind when making your sandwiches.

Pork features heavily, as well, as do the likes of mint leaves, peanuts, sesame seeds and so on - so you’ll have a great time working out what to put in your sandwiches. Just make sure the flavours complement your bubble tea and you can’t go wrong!