| Origin
Agar agar is really a native gelling substance stemming from the cell walls of red algae, from the gelidiacees family, approximating gelidium and gracialaria. It's long been used in several Asian cooking traditions. Moreover, the name agar-agar is of Malay-Indonesian origin and translates to jelly. A Japanese legend tells the fact that fundamental manufacturing treat of the agar-agar was learned in the mid-seventeenth century. One winter sundown, a Japanese officer would have always been offered a time-honored dish of jelly inventd from gelidium seaweed boiled in standard water, by the possessor of a small inn. Following dinner, the innkeeper will have thrown the vestige of jelly out side. Within a couple of days and after numerous cycles of freezing, thawing and additionally drying in the sunshine, a white substance appears to have showed which the landlord would have saved and boiled. He will have obtained a gelatin whiter than the original and whose quality within the mouth would have pleased the Japanese ever since. The same process of freezing and thawing is still employed today, on a large scale, to extract and purify the agar-agar from the seaweed from which it originates.
Properties
Agar-agar can be managed for its gelling capabilities and the unique properties of the gels taked by it. Gelling happens when a mixture of agar-agar has cooled in a liquid that was earlier brought to a boil. Depending on the species of algae utilized, gel formation will take place at temperatures between 32C and 43c (90F and 110F).
The agar-agar gel will retain its firmness even when subjected to temperatures grazing 85F, unlike gel-based gelatin, that melts at 37C (99F). This broad gap between the temperature at which a gel is formed and the temperature at which it melts is special.
Agar-agar will not impart flavor or odor to mixtures; it actually promotes the release of other aromas inside the mouth. It is usually utilized in very low dosage, because gelling is evident at ranges of concentration of agar-agar below 1%. The actual firmness of the gel is directly proportional to the content level of agar-agar used in a dish. The weaker your dosage of agar-agar, the more supple and fragile the gel would certainly be; the stronger the serving, the more firm and brittle the gel will be.
Innovative cooking applications
Agar-agar is among the flagship additives of molecular gastronomy. It really is used to make dishes having unusual shapes and textures such as pearls and spaghetti gels. Simply dissolve the powdered agar-agar inside a boiling aqueous liquid, then let it set while cooling, using various techniques. It is also incorporated into preparations using a food siphon to produce very light foams.
Agar-agar preparations are high heat resistant, thereby making it possible to serve hot foams and gels. |
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