Diversifying Your Culinary Repertoire = The End to Culinary Boredom

Blog sponsored by The Canadian Sugar Institute

Written by RD, Elis Halenko

Discovering Milk Tea & Origins

The first time I tried milk tea was a few years ago in Toronto’s ChinaTown, while looking for a mobile dessert option I could enjoy while exploring the shops. Milk tea originates from Hong Kong, a recipe that was likely influenced by a few countries and cultures. For example, Tibet (now occupied by China) was documented to be the first place to introduce adding milk to tea (ref: artful tea blog, 2024). Tea was historically first enjoyed in China (ref: tealeaves blog, 2024), while the British were known for adding sugar to tea and the regular practice of drinking tea in the afternoons (reference: artful tea blog, 2024).

Today you can enjoy many variations of milk tea all over the world, including the viral toasted milk tea beverage which I plan to recreate and review for you today! (More on this shortly…)

Ask for “Half Sweet”

If you are like me, I usually find commercial beverages on the sweet side. Did you know most places will modify your orders if you ask for reduced sweetness? I’m always asking for “half sweet” when I order out. Canada’s Food Guide recommends that we limit added sugars in drinks, so one of the benefits of making your own milk tea at home is you inherently have more control of the ingredients and can reduce the added sugars, to get the sweetness just right.

Social Media Increases Exposure to Diverse Recipes & Potential for New Food Trends

As a registered dietitian and avid traveler, I've always been an advocate for exploring global cuisines, not just for their inherent nutritional diversities but also for the wonderful opportunity they present in elevating our culinary skills. With each culturally diverse recipe we try, we not only introduce our palates to an array of new flavor combinations but this exposure also challenges our kitchen competence, challenging us to try different cooking techniques and become familiar with different ingredients.

You may have noticed that gaining exposure to culturally diverse recipes is much more commonplace and effortless with the prominence and popularity of recipe sharing on social media. Recipes that were once a family tradition and possibly also a secret are now going viral. Some of these recipes meet all the criteria for a successful social media recipe - they are entertaining to watch, easy and affordable to make, while also being incredibly tasty and nourishing. Some of these viral recipes in actuality are recipe flops (in my opinion)… where it seems as though the main focus on the recipes have been to go viral and entertain rather than other important factors (um… taste!!).

I myself have been drawn in by many of these trendy recipes. And despite my kitchen competence, I have experienced many failed attempts at recreating these recipes at home. Some of these viral recipes simply create buzz but do not measure up to their social media success.

This is why I have partnered with The Canadian Sugar Institute to review 6 viral recipes over the next 6 months for our Food Critic Series. Let's consider the subject of this month's recipe review — the viral Toasted Milk Tea. I will walk you through the steps I took to recreate this viral recipe followed by my Dietitian review of the recipe from 3 important standpoints:

1) Ease of preparation

2) How accessible and affordable this recipe is

3) Taste /sweetness factor and nutrition

Toasted Milk Tea: The Recipe Review

A traditional milk tea recipe pulled from the popular Epicurious blog is as follows:

Yield: 1 cup

Prep time: 1 hour

Cook time: 30 minutes

Total time: 1 hour

Ingredients:

Sweetening Syrup

1 cup (213 grams) dark brown sugar, packed

1 cup (198 grams) granulated sugar

1 cup (227 grams) boiling-hot filtered water

Boba (Tapioca Balls)

4 cups filtered water, plus more as needed

1 cup (168 grams) dried boba balls

½ cup Sweetening Syrup

Brewed Black Tea Blend

½ cup (28 grams) loose Assam black tea leaves

¼ cup (14 grams) loose Ceylon black tea leaves

¼ cup (14 grams) loose Yunnan black tea leaves

4 oz. (by weight) ice cubes

5 oz. filtered water, heated to 190ºF

To assemble each drink

2-4 Tbsp. prepared tapioca beads

5 oz. (by weight) ice cubes

2 oz. sweet syrup, or to taste

5 oz brewed Jasmine tea

2½ oz. milk or dairy-free milk of choice

Method:

Sweet Syrup
Step 1
Combine the brown and white sugars in a heatproof bowl like a large pyrex measuring cup. Whisk in the hot water until dissolved. Let cool, then pour into a clean, resealable container and refrigerate for up to 1 month.
Tapioca Beads
Step 2

In a medium saucepan, bring the water to a rolling boil over high heat. Add the boba and cook for 15-20 minutes (or until tender), stirring frequently during the first 10 minutes of cooking to prevent the boba from sitting at the bottom of the pot and burning. Once done boiling, take the pot off the heat and let the boba rest for another 30 minutes. Then strain the boba in a colander, discarding the water, and pour them into a mixing bowl. Stir in ½ cup Sweet Syrup. Let sit for about 30 minutes.

Note: Keep the tapioca beads at room temperature for use. The boba keeps for about 4 hours before it starts to lose its texture.

Black Tea (I used Jasmine tea)

Step 3
Toast the tea leaves on a skillet over medium heat for a few minutes, until the tea leaves become aromatic. Heat filtered water and steep tea leaves in 5 oz. of the hot water for 4 minutes.

To assemble
Fill a glass with the tapioca beads, ice, then add the sweet syrup. Pour the tea over the ice. Add the milk and stir.

The viral toasted milk tea recipe differs from a traditional milk tea recipe because we start assembling each cup by toasting the black tea leaves for a few minutes before stepping the tea. I found this recipe way too sweet, so instead of using 2 oz of sweetening syrup, I actually didn’t add any as I found the sweetness provided by the sweetened tapioca beads offered just enough sweetness. See my full review below!

Viral Toasted Milk Tea Dietitian Review, Is it Worth it?

1) Ease of preparation - 5/5

I found this recipe really easy to make, there are a few steps but if you can brew yourself some tea and measure out ingredients, you can make this recipe.

2) How accessible and affordable this recipe is - 3/5

I gave this recipe 3/5 stars for accessibility because I found I struggled to find the dried tapioca beads at most stores, however groceries in Asian communities or Asian specialty shops like TNT or Nations regularly stock them.

3) Taste /sweetness factor and nutrition- 3/5

Finally, let's talk about taste and nutrition! I found the original recipe WAY too sweet, so instead of adding any additional sugar syrup, the sugar syrup residue from the sweetened tapioca beads was enough for me to let the delicious taste of the toasted jasmine tea shine.

Visit our recipe review reel here (link IG post) for a quick recap.

Here is how I modified this recipe which deserves a 5/5 rating!

5/5 Viral Toasted Milk Tea Recipe

made by a Dietitian

2-4 Tbsp. prepared tapioca beads

5 oz. (by weight) ice cubes

2 oz. sweet syrup, or to taste

5 oz brewed Jasmine tea

2½ oz. milk or dairy-free milk of choice

The process of preparing Toasted Milk Tea with less sugar involves caramelizing a smaller amount of sugar in hot water to preserve that signature sweetness without overdoing it. This means not only reducing the caloric and sugar intake but also challenging yourself to maintain the delicate balance of flavors that makes this drink so unique. It’s a great example of how we can adapt and respect traditional recipes to meet our nutritional needs without compromising on taste.

All and all - I LOVED this recipe. Each recipe, even a modernized toasted milk tea recipe, tells a story of its origins (Tibet, Hong Kong, the UK), of the people and the landscape that created it (changing times). By engaging with these stories, we become better cooks — more adaptable, more innovative, and more understanding of the nuances that make a good recipe great (ease, accessibility, taste and nutrition).

It’s true that at times, ingredients may be unfamiliar, techniques might be complex, and outcomes can sometimes be far from what we anticipated. Yet, it is within these challenges that we find our greatest opportunities for growth. Learning to navigate these hurdles, mastering a new cooking skill, is what transforms an ordinary or bored home cook into a skilled creatively challenged home chef.

A Note to my Dietitian Colleagues: Embracing Cultural Cuisines in Your Dietetic Practice

Incorporating recipes from differing cultural cuisines into our dietetic practice when done respectfully is a pathway to creating more inclusive nutrition advice, understanding dietary diversity, and respecting cultural food practices. As dietitians, embracing this approach means we can offer more personalized, culturally sensitive, and enjoyable eating counsel that resonates with a broader range of clients. A review of some of these viral trends can help RDs stay current with changing food trends while keeping aware of whether or not these trends are actually accessible, affordable and tasty.

Overall recipe rating: WORTH IT with modifications!