by Lidya Sin

Created on: October 22, 2009

Agar - agar is Malay and Indonesian word for jelly. It is a jelly like substance derived from certain kinds of seaweed. Commercial agar-agar is derived from Gelidium amansii. Agar-agar has been used by Asian people in place of gelatin which is harder to find in the region. Since it is made by seaweed, agar-agar is a good substitute for gelatin for vegetarians. It is also very rich in fiber and thus very good as intestinal regulator.

Asian people use agar-agar mainly for dessert. Agar-agar can be used to replace gelatin when making jellies, puddings, and custard. Some companies even use agar-agar as thickener in ice cream.

There are two types of commercial agar-agar: the solid ones (either in strips or blocks), and the powder ones. Powdered agar-agar is originally white, and when cooked, it should be white and translucent. Some manufacturers add food colorings and sometimes other flavor additives to the agar-agar. The original agar-agar without food coloring usually is labeled as "white". They are quite safe to use, but when using agar-agar in recipes, always use white and plain one, or the original non-colored one, unless otherwise stated.

To use the solid agar-agar, soak them in water or any kind of liquid until they are soft and translucent. Then boil them with water, sugar, and other additives for flavor because agar-agar originally tastes bland. Check the package to see any additional ingredients to the agar-agar powder.

To use the agar-agar powder, simply follow the instruction in the package. Usually the instruction to cook powdered agar-agar consists of boiling a package of agar-agar (usually 7g each) with 4 cups of water and 4 tbsp of sugar. When cooking any type of dessert or food with agar-agar, always stirring the mixture as the agar-agar can easily set at the bottom or the sides of the pan. Cook agar-agar on low to medium heat.

You can also add agar-agar powder when you cook rice to add more fiber to your diet. Simply mix the agar-agar powder with the water you use to cook the water and cook your rice as usual. Be careful to use white plain agar-agar before you put them in your rice, though, or you will end up with colorful and fruity rice.

*Agar - Agar Jellies with Tropical Fruits*

Ingredients:

- 100 g of mango slices

- 100g of pineapple slices

- 1 package of green, yellow, or white agar-agar

- 4 cups of orange juice

- 6 tbsp of sugar

Instruction:

1. Arrange the slices of fruits in a large mold or several smaller ones.

2. Cook the agar-agar. Add the agar-agar, orange juice, and sugar in a sauce pan. Cook on low heat, stirring all the while until the agar-agar is boiled. Pour into the mold and let it set.

3. Chill in refrigerator. In the refrigerator, this jelly can last for several days.

You can also try these recipes to cook with agar-agar powder: chocolate coffee pudding using agar - agar powder and strawberry pudding.

Source:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agar_agar

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