Agar-agar in cooking
Agar-agar, obtained from seaweed,is the most powerful gelling agent used in the confectionery industry. With its help, marmalade, cheese, jelly, meat and fish jellies, ice cream are prepared, since it helps to prevent the formation of ice crystals, as well as juices, since it has the property of lightening them. When preparing jelly it is necessary to pay attention to the fact that its gelling properties are reduced when heated to eighty degrees, the optimum temperature for the formation of jelly mass is forty-five degrees Celsius.
Agar-agar application in the food industryacquired a broad. The amount of it, which is added to the products, depends on the standards for them, as well as on the recipe used. For example, in the confectionery industry - this is roughly one percent of the weight of the finished product. It is used as a stabilizer (E406), as well as for the preparation of desserts, sorbets, sauces. Still with its help syrups, preserves, mayonnaises, cakes, jellies, soups and much more are prepared.
Agar-agar is an ideal substitute for gelatin of animal origin, the gelling agent derived from it has no color, taste and odor, so it is universal in use.
Consider the recipe for making a pie using agar agar.
Ingredients: one glass of couscous or corn porridge, two and a half cups of pear juice, three hundred and fifty grams of jam, five grams of agar, salt, nuts to decorate the pie.
Couscous is put in a bowl, a pinch of salt is added andjuice and bring to a boil, then left for ten minutes. Agar-agar should be soaked for five minutes, then mix it with water, which was soaked, with jam. The mixture is placed on a fire and boiled until the agar-agar is completely dissolved. Couscous put in a mold, poured with jam and put in a cold place to freeze. The ready dish is decorated with nuts, it is served cold.
Another recipe using agar-agar (jelly).
Ingredients: two glasses of juice or other drink, two tablespoons of agar-agar in powder, orange or lemon peel, vanilla on the tip of the knife, sugar, cinnamon and cloves to taste.
In the dishes, heat the liquid, add to itagar-agar and boil for two minutes until the latter dissolves completely. In the resulting mass add vanilla, sugar to taste, cinnamon and cloves. The liquid is poured into molds, cooled and put in a cold place for congealing.
It should be noted that agar-agar containsa large amount of iron, calcium, iodine and magnesium, as well as folic acid. It is recommended to use in dietary nutrition, since it has a laxative property, well suppresses the feeling of hunger and does not contain calories. Among other things, this gelling agent has a decongestive effect and has an antibacterial property.
Agar-agar can be of two kinds: higher (white or light yellow) and the first (dark yellow). This component is produced according to the following scheme: first the algae are washed and cleaned, then they are treated with water and alkali, they are extracted, filtered, frozen, then they are pressed, dried and ground. On sale it comes in the form of powder or plates that do not dissolve in cold water, but only in a hot solution, while the latter becomes viscous and transparent. When cooled to forty-five degrees, it becomes a pure gel, which is thermoreversible.
Thus, knowing where to buy agar-agar and howit can be used to make various products, you can get quite tasty and hearty dishes with a low calorie content, which have the ability to remove toxins and toxins from the body, improve the performance of the liver and intestines.
