Originating from Taichung, an industrial city in western Taiwan, the sweet tapioca pearl has become a global sensation among kids and hipsters.

During a boba festival in Gandaria City shopping mall, South Jakarta, at the end of September, hundreds of people were seen flocking to the venue, with many forming lines around several bubble tea franchise stalls.

 “Some of the stores are more popular than the others. The lines was unbelievably long, in which you have to wait for up to two hours.” festivalgoer Arvy Valerie, 21, said.

While some of the festival-goers remained conventional — choosing from classic bubble milk tea flavors or any beverage that includes the tapioca pearl toppings, some chose to be adventurous and tried the latest inventions.

“I have tried some drinks, and French toast with boba and cream cheese,” Arvy said.

“I won’t spend my money to buy the crazy ones, to be honest. Won’t risk it if I’m not certain about the taste,” she added.

Arvy mentioned two creations she found while exploring the festival, including instant noodles with boba and boba sushi.

“It’s weird because those foods are normally savory, yet people mixed them with boba, something you normally find in sweet delicacies.”

The same sentiment was expressed by college student Shelvi Olivia, 19.

“Personally, I’ll leave savory dishes as they are. The only acceptable sweet thing you can add to a savory dish is sweet soy sauce. Boba is basically sugar-based since they consist of tapioca starch, they may go well with sweet dishes, but it’s a different story with something salty.”

Shelvi, though opposing the idea of savory food with boba, tried a savory dish with boba. “I bought boba instant noodles purely out of curiosity. It wasn’t half bad, but it was still weird to comprehend.”

Shelvi said the noodles tasted like normal instant noodles, but with a little twist of sweet chewy boba.

 “I could still tolerate it due to the melted cheese in the dish that bridged the sweet and savory flavor.”

While most people make their rounds at the popular boba shops, Anna Maria, 21, makes boba at home.  

The college student said she was encouraged by her cousin, who shares the same love for the tapioca pearl, to make homemade boba.

“So we looked up tutorial videos on YouTube. Apparently, it’s quite easy to make. It’s a money saver. You can make a healthier version of it; using less sugar or choosing nondairy milk.” She told The Jakarta Post.  

However, she can’t make it on daily basis since making boba is quite time consuming.

“Personally, I think the trend is overhyped. Don’t get me wrong, I like boba, but if you ask me to line up and wait for an hour, I’ll definitely pass. It’s just sugar and tapioca anyway.”

And much like Arvy, Anna is quite perplexed with the whole savory foods combined with boba dishes.

“I only try the normal stuff: brown sugar boba drinks and cheese boba bread. Just don’t force it [by combining boba with savory food],” said Anna.

“But if you’re up for the weird trends, maybe you can do a food test to see if it’s worth it or not,” she said.

The writer is an intern at The Jakarta Post

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