揭秘珍珠奶茶中“珍珠”來(lái)源 木薯華麗變身.

　　很多人喜歡喝珍珠奶茶，尤其喜歡里邊有嚼頭的珍珠。但是并沒多少人真正知道這些珍珠是什么——它們是用什么做的、是從哪里來(lái)的？小編現(xiàn)在就來(lái)揭曉答案，為你開啟“珍珠”的追根溯源之旅。

Most of us who've ever had tapioca know it to be the chewy, small pearls found in a bowl of pudding. Or maybe the bigger, still chewy balls floating around in the now-globally-popular sweet Asian bubble teas. But not many of us actually know what these little pearls are -- what they're made of or where they come from. We're going to fix that.

　　大部分吃過(guò)木薯粉的人都知道木薯粉可以用來(lái)做布丁里有嚼頭的小珍珠、或者是現(xiàn)已風(fēng)靡全球的亞洲珍珠奶茶里的大珍珠。但是并沒多少人真正知道這些珍珠是什么——它們是用什么做的、是從哪里來(lái)的?我們現(xiàn)在就來(lái)揭曉答案。

　　The cassava root (also known as yuca in some parts of the world). It's mainly cultivated and eaten in tropical regions; it started off in Northern Brazil, but eventually made its way across the South American continent and over to Africa and Asia. It's prized for its ability to grow in low-nutrient soils and harvest quickly. It's also loved for its culinary versatility. Cassava can be mashed, cooked into soups or fried into, well, fries. And it's also used to make tapioca. This is what tapioca looks like in flour form.

　　木薯根(在世界上某些地方也被稱為yuca)，主要在熱帶地區(qū)種植食用。木薯原產(chǎn)于巴西北部，后來(lái)被廣泛引進(jìn)南美的其他地區(qū)以及非洲和亞洲，因其能在貧瘠的土壤里生長(zhǎng)并快速收成而備受青睞。另外，木薯也因在烹飪中用途廣泛而廣受歡迎。木薯可以切碎、用來(lái)煮湯或者炸成薯?xiàng)l，也可以用來(lái)加工成木薯粉。

　　Tapioca is a starch extracted from the cassava root. It is used as a thickening agent in many foods. It can be made into flour -- it has a similar texture to cornstarch -- which is often times used in gluten-free breads. It can also be made into pearls in varying sizes. Personally, we like it best when it's floating in a tall glass of bubble tea.

　　木薯粉是從木薯根提取出來(lái)的一種淀粉，在很多食物中被用作增稠劑。木薯粉可以加工成面粉，跟玉米淀粉有相似的口感，經(jīng)常被用來(lái)做不含麩質(zhì)蛋白的面包。木薯粉也可以做成不同大小的珍珠。對(duì)我們來(lái)說(shuō)，我們最喜歡的還是那一大杯奶茶里的珍珠。

　　If you don't live in a place where the bubble tea craze has hit yet, you should try it. You can make it yourself at home, giant tapioca pearls (or cubes) and all.

　　如果你住的地方珍珠奶茶還沒有流行起來(lái)，那你更加要嘗一下了。超大的木薯珍珠(或者方塊)和其他所有的東西你都可以在家里自己做。

原來(lái)美味的珍珠奶茶里的“珍珠”居然是用木薯粉做的，這么神奇的木薯粉又是從木薯根里提取出來(lái)的，看來(lái)制作珍珠奶茶里的珍珠所經(jīng)過(guò)的工序可是很復(fù)雜呀，下次和珍珠奶茶的時(shí)候可要細(xì)細(xì)品味珍珠的美味喲。