Agar, also known as agar agar and kanten in Japan, is a red seaweed, where the flakes or powder are produced by cooking and pressing the sea vegetables and then freeze drying.

Agar is tasteless and is not eaten on its own but used as a gelling agent.  It is different from gelatine, the traditional gelling agent, in two ways.  One is that it is not an animal product but a vegetable and two that it sets at room temperature.

Agar is rich in fibre and is a good source of vitamins E, K and B5, folate, zinc, copper, calcium, iron, magnesium, potassium and manganese.  It is very low in saturated fat, cholesterol and sodium.

You can substitute powdered agar into any recipe which called for unflavoured gelatine and you just use the same amount.  If you can’t get agar powder which is easier to use as it dissolves more easily, then one teaspoon of agar powder equals one tablespoon of agar flakes.

Agar has zero calories and using it as a weight loss fad has become popular in some parts of the world.  It is known as the Kanten Diet and seems to be working because of the high fibre (approx 80%) content which is helping people to feel more full and has a mild laxative effect.

Agar is also used in the scientific world as a culture medium to grow microbiological speciments.

This entry was posted on Saturday, September 1st, 2007 at 12:50 pm and is filed under Ingredient Spotlights. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.