The words are grouped, not alphabetical: the pearl itself, the pearls and toppings it gets mixed up with, and the drinks and desserts it goes into. For the longer story, start with what are popping pearls?
The pearl
What a popping pearl is, what it is called, and the two ingredients that make its skin.
- Popping pearls
Small spheres of flavoured juice inside a thin, soft skin that holds its shape in a drink and bursts when you bite. They are made by spherification and began in Taiwan as a topping for bubble tea. (Wikipedia’s article on popping pearls)
On this site: What are popping pearls?
- Bursting pearls
Another name for popping pearls, after the burst when you bite one.
On this site: What are popping pearls?
- Juice pearls, juice balls
Other names for popping pearls, after the juice inside the skin.
On this site: What’s inside a popping pearl
- Fruit caviar
Small spheres of fruit juice made by spherification and named for their look; the technique’s own write-up calls them artificial caviar. (Wikipedia: Spherification)
- Spherification
A kitchen technique that sets a liquid into spheres. A liquid with sodium alginate meets a bath with calcium, and the outside of each drop sets into a thin, flexible skin while the inside stays liquid. In reverse spherification the calcium is in the liquid and the alginate is in the bath. (Wikipedia: Spherification)
On this site: How the skin forms
- Sodium alginate (INS 401)
The sodium salt of alginic acid, refined from brown seaweed and used in food as a gelling agent and a thickener. It is the gelling agent in our Hibiscus pearls. (Wikipedia: Sodium alginate)
On this site: Our ingredient list
- Calcium lactate (INS 327)
A calcium salt used in food as a firming agent, and in kitchens for spherification. It is the firming agent in our Hibiscus pearls. (Wikipedia: Calcium lactate)
On this site: Our ingredient list
- Electrolyte salts
The name on our Hibiscus ingredient declaration for sodium chloride, potassium chloride, sodium citrate and dextrose. They are why ours are called popping pearls with electrolytes.
On this site: The declaration, word for word
- Jelly cup
The format Pova Pearls come in: a small, sealed, single-serve cup. Ours holds 40 ml of popping pearls, one serving, under a peel-off lid.
On this site: The cups and prices
Other pearls and toppings
The things popping pearls get mistaken for, and the other toppings in the same glass.
- Tapioca
A starch extracted from the root of the cassava plant. (Wikipedia: Tapioca)
On this site: Popping pearls vs tapioca pearls
- Tapioca pearls
Pearls made by pressing moist tapioca starch through a sieve. They are soaked and boiled before eating, and turn soft, chewy and elastic. In bubble tea they are usually dark from brown sugar. (Wikipedia: Tapioca)
On this site: What tapioca pearls are
- Sabudana
The name for tapioca pearls across the Indian subcontinent, also sagudana, or sabba akki in Kannada. It is the pearl in sabudana khichdi and in kheer. (Wikipedia: Tapioca)
On this site: Is sabudana the same as tapioca pearls?
- Bubble tea
A tea-based drink, most often with chewy tapioca pearls, milk and flavouring, that began in Taiwan in the 1980s. Popping pearls are one of its toppings. (Wikipedia: Bubble tea)
On this site: Bubble tea at home, with nothing to cook
- Nata de coco
A chewy, translucent, jelly-like food made by fermenting coconut water, from the Philippines. It chews; a popping pearl bursts. (Wikipedia: Nata de coco)
- Sabja (basil seeds)
Basil seeds, which turn gelatinous when soaked in water. They go into falooda and other drinks and desserts. (Wikipedia: Basil)
On this site: Three-pearl falooda
- Falooda sev
The thin vermicelli in falooda, made from wheat, arrowroot, cornstarch or sago. (Wikipedia: Falooda)
On this site: Three-pearl falooda
Drinks and desserts
The Indian drinks and desserts popping pearls go into most often on this site.
- Falooda
A cold dessert made by mixing rose syrup, vermicelli and sweet basil seeds with milk, often served with kulfi. (Wikipedia: Falooda)
On this site: Hibiscus vermicelli float
- Kulfi
A frozen dairy dessert from the Indian subcontinent, denser and creamier than regular ice cream. (Wikipedia: Kulfi)
On this site: Kulfi pop sundae
- Shikanji
A lemon drink like lemonade that often has salt, saffron and cumin in it; a summer drink across the Indian subcontinent. (Wikipedia: Shikanjvi)
On this site: Pearl shikanji
- Nimbu pani
What lemonade is commonly called in India: lemon, water and sugar, sometimes with salt or ginger. (Wikipedia: Lemonade)
On this site: Peach nimbu fizz
- Jaljeera
An Indian drink flavoured with jaljeera spice mix, which can include cumin, ginger, black pepper, mint and black salt. It is served chilled. (Wikipedia: Jaljeera)
On this site: Pearl jaljeera
- Gudhal
The Hindi name for the hibiscus flower, Hibiscus rosa-sinensis, also called jawakusum. (Hindi Wikipedia: गुड़हल (Gudhal))
On this site: Hibiscus popping pearls