Amalul’s pandan bubble tea

Ingredients

• 1½ tbsp loose Ceylon tea leaves 
• ¼ cup condensed milk, plus extra for garnish 
• 1 cup evaporated milk  
• 1 pandan leaf, knotted 
• 1 tbsp pandan extract 
• Fresh milk, to serve 
• Black tapioca pearls, cooked, to serve (see Note) 

Steeping time: overnight

Instructions

1. Bring 1 litre of water to the boil in a small saucepan over high heat. Add 1½ tbsp of Ceylon loose tea leaves. Lower the heat and simmer for 5 minutes, before removing from heat and leaving to steep overnight.
2. Meanwhile, make the pandan flavouring by mixing the condensed milk, evaporated milk pandan leaf and pandan extract. Leave to steep, overnight, if possible.
3. To serve, swirl some extra condensed milk on the sides of the glass. Add tapioca pearls, ice, tea, and pandan flavouring, to taste. Top up with a splash of fresh milk, stir and enjoy.

Note

• You can get tapioca pearls cooked or uncooked from select Asian grocers. Simply prepare them according to packet instructions and store them in a brown sugar simple syrup made of 1 cup brown sugar dissolved in 1 cup hot water. Cool before using.

This recipe is from A Taste of Island Dreams with Alimah Bilda. Photography by Tammi Kwok.