Crazy for Agar Agar

I finally found it! I have been on a quest to find agar agar flakes/powder ever since Katie wrote about the wonderful pudding and creams you can make.

While I was playing in a tournament over Thanksgiving, I came across a wonderful Hong Kong Market. They sold anything imaginable there: spiky fruits, seafood, dried seafood, chopsticks, and even purple sweet potatoes (we’ll talk more about this one later)!!!

I scoured the aisles for agar, and I found it for a good price. At the health food store they were going to charge me $20 for a package of agar agar, but at the Hong Kong market I bought it for $1.50. Yeah, I definitely bought more than one pack!

Agar Agar Base

~This is the base you use to make any of the treats listed below!

Ingredients

1 teaspoon agar agar powder (if you are using agar agar flakes, use 1 Tablespoon)
2 cups of liquid (juice or milk substitute)
Optional: add ins like vanilla extract, cocoa powder, chocolate chips, fruit chunks, nuts, be creative!

In a saucepan, heat up the liquid (not boiling), then add the agar agar. Stir well and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat, and simmer, stirring often, for about 5 minutes or until the agar has dissolved.

Next, pour the liquid into a container and place in the refrigerator. Let the agar base set for about 20 minutes until jelly-like.

Note: It does not thicken while heated. The mix only thickens if chilled. The first time I made this I expected it to thicken like regular pudding, so I kept adding more and more agar agar. When I put it in the fridge, it was rick-solid!

You can make Vegan Fruit-Sweetened Jello…

You can make Pudding…

You can make Whipped Cream…

 

You can make Vegan Yogurt…

Meg made this wonderful vegan yogurt by mixing a probiotic capsule into the agar base. Brilliant, Meg! Can’t wait to try this!

You can make some yourself…

I am going to giveaway one of my packets of agar agar powder to one lucky winner, so you don’t have to score the aisles of every grocery store. Each packet contains  25 servings of agar. This will make about 13 cups of jello, pudding, yogurt, or whipped cream. Think of this as a Christmas giveaway

To enter:

Leave a comment telling me what you would make first with the agar agar powder
Become a fan of Spoonful of Sugar Free on Facebook, and leave a comment back here telling me.
Subscribe to me by email by entering your email address in the box to the right. Leave a comment here telling me you did.
Answer these questions for fun and more entries!

What is your favorite holiday treat?
How are you spending the Holidays?

The Giveaway ends this Friday the 17th. Good Luck! THIS GIVEAWAY IS NOW CLOSED.