Questions & Answers
Agar, Kanten, Gelatin Substitution

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Question:

Hello, every time I find a recipe for chocolate or white chocolate mousse it always asks for gelatin.  We are vegetarians and would prefer a substitution or any other suggestions! Thanks for a great website!
 

Answers:

Agar - (know as agar-agar and kanten depending on the source) is a vegetarian gelatin. It's a whitish color, and comes in either sticks, flakes, granules  or powder, usually in a little packet.  Most health food stores seem to carry it in with the Japanese foodstuffs, or along with the more familiar  seaweeds (dulse, kalp, wakame, etc.).

For a gelatin dessert, you use two tablespoons of flaked agar to 3.5 cups of liquid. The granulated form is twice as strong as the flaked; the powdered is three times as strong.   Play around with the concentrations to get the right 'wiggliness' for you, since too much produces some real textures.