agar-agar powder

To get that ‘wibble wobble’ from jelly on a plate, use agar agar as a vegan alternative to gelatine.

Shop Cooks' Ingredients Agar Agar

Use it to set fruity jellies.
It’s a handy way to thicken savoury sauces.
Use it to thicken lemon curd for sponge cakes and shortbread sandwiches.
Try using it to make your own vegetarian gummy sweets
Employ it suspend slices of fruit in a flan.
It gives plant-based panna cottas the perfect jiggle.
Make Greek yogurt creams with nectarines and honeyed walnuts.
Add it to reduce rhubarb or berries into jammy compotes.

Coconut milk panna cotta

This stylish dessert blends European techniques with South Asian flavours.

Add 400ml coconut milk to a pan with 50ml sugar and a couple of split green cardamom pods. Bring almost to the boil, then whisk in 1 tbsp Agar Agar powder. Simmer for 3 minutes, then remove from the heat, add 1 tsp vanilla extract and set aside to cool.
When cool, fish out the cardamom pods, then divide between 4 serving glasses and chill in the fridge for at least 1 hour to firm up. Serve with slices of fresh mango, dressed with lime juice and a sprinkling of sesame seeds.

Regular gelatine isn’t vegetarian, let alone vegan – it’s usually made using animal collagen extracted from bones. Agar agar, on the other hand, is derived from seaweed.

AGAR AGAR

To get that ‘wibble wobble’ from jelly on a plate, use agar-agar as a vegan alternative to gelatine.

Shop Cooks' Ingredients Agar Agar

WHAT DOES IT TASTE LIKE?

Nothing, just like you’d want it to. Originally in powder form, then flavourless and clear once set, it doesn’t interfere with the taste or colours of your other ingredients.

TIPS, TRICKS & HACKS

Use it to set fruity jellies.
It’s a handy way to thicken savoury sauces.
Use it to thicken lemon curd for sponge cakes and shortbread sandwiches.
Try using it to make your own vegetarian gummy sweets
Employ it suspend slices of fruit in a flan.
It gives plant-based panna cottas the perfect jiggle.
Make Greek yogurt creams with nectarines and honeyed walnuts.
Add it to reduce rhubarb or berries into jammy compotes.

easy meal idea

Coconut milk panna cotta

This stylish dessert blends European techniques with South Asian flavours.

Add 400ml coconut milk to a pan with 50ml sugar and a couple of split green cardamom pods. Bring almost to the boil, then whisk in 1 tbsp Agar Agar powder. Simmer for 3 minutes, then remove from the heat, add 1 tsp vanilla extract and set aside to cool.
When cool, fish out the cardamom pods, then divide between 4 serving glasses and chill in the fridge for at least 1 hour to firm up. Serve with slices of fresh mango, dressed with lime juice and a sprinkling of sesame seeds.

Regular gelatine isn’t vegetarian, let alone vegan – it’s usually made using animal collagen extracted from bones. Agar-agar, on the other hand, is derived from seaweed.