Food Ingredients Dictionary - China Grass

Many food enthusiasts asked about china grass which I used in making Low Calorie Chocolate Mousse. This gave me the idea to start a new food dictionary. In these blog posts, I would explain the new or uncommon ingredients which I would or I had used in making any dish. Here I start with the first ingredient.



Agar or agar agar is a gelatinous substance extracted from seaweeds like Ceylon moss. Because, gelatin is made from animal tissue, agar agar is used commonly as a vegetarian gelatin substitute for making soups, jellies, desserts, ice creams by vegans. According to Wikipedia, the word "agar" comes from the Malay word agar-agar (meaning jelly). It is one of the main ingredients of Japanese cuisine for making desserts.

Kanten, China grass, or Japanese isinglass are the other names of agar agar. Like ordinary gelatin, agar is flavorless. When dissolved in water, heated and then cooled, it becomes gelatinous. Its is full of protein along with number of minerals and gels more firmly than gelatin.

Agar's gelling power is weakened by acids and would breakdown when exposed to enzymes of raw fruits like kiwi, papaya, pineapple, peach, mango, guava, and fig. So, use canned fruits instead of fresh ones.