Agar-Dimsum（AgarCakes）

Agar-Osmanthus Red Bean Yokan

In Japan, yokan is the most well-known famous snack, and it is also the most popular gift choice for interpersonal communication. It is even very popular in Hong Kong, where there are many delicious foods. Many Hong Kong people mistakenly believe that yokan, like sushi, is a speciality of Japan. In fact, yokan is a famous food in northern China. The main ingredients for making yokan are red bean paste and agar. It is said that the reason why it is named yokan is that yokan was originally a tea snack for the Manchus during the nomadic period outside the Great Wall. At that time, the soup was made by boiling lamb liver and freezing it and then cutting it into thin slices to go with wine and meals. Later, it was introduced to temples, and vegetarian monks replaced lamb liver with red beans and gradually formed its current appearance. Many years later, due to fate, yokan crossed the ocean and spread to Japan... Today, the improved yokan has many flavours, but the most popular one is still the traditional red bean yokan, which has a strong bean fragrance and a soft and sandy taste, which is really memorable.

Ingredients: 250g Red bean paste, agar 12g, sugar 50g, 80g maltose, Auxiliary: Osmanthus, appropriate amount; water, appropriate amount.

Procedure for making agar-agar, osmanthus, and red bean yokan:

Soak agar in water until soft, then add an appropriate amount of water to cover the softened agar.

Add sugar to agar and cook over low heat, stirring from time to time until completely melted. Add red bean paste and maltose

Continue to cook over low heat and stir constantly. When the red bean paste and agar are completely blended, turn off the heat and add osmanthus.

Pour into a flat-bottomed container, cool, and refrigerate. After refrigeration, cut into pieces and serve on a plate.

Agar-Colourful Almond Tofu:

Almond tofu is a snack that we often make in summer. Compared with American almonds, I prefer to use southern almonds to make almond tofu. Southern almonds are also called sweet almonds, which have the effect of moisturising the lungs and moisturising the skin. Southern almonds have a natural, fresh fragrance, and the almond tofu made is fragrant and not greasy. Almond tofu can be eaten directly with jam, or it can be paired with various fresh fruits to make almond tofu in syrup.

White almond tofu, colourful fruit cubes, and cool and sweet syrup—it would be such a refreshing enjoyment to have such a bowl in hot weather.

Ingredients: 100g southern almonds, 300ml whole milk, 10g agar, appropriate amount of various fruits, sugar water. (Water 900 ml, sugar 80g)

Steps for making agar-agar colorful almond tofu

1 Prepare southern almonds, water, milk, granulated sugar and other materials for making almond tofu. 2 Wash the southern almonds and soak them in water the night before. 3 Put the soaked southern almonds into a soymilk machine, add 900ml of water, beat into a thick paste, and then filter out the almond paste. 4 Soak the agar in water until it expands and becomes transparent, then drain the water for later use. 5 Pour the almond paste into a pot, add granulated sugar, boil over high heat and continue to cook for 10 minutes, stirring during the period to avoid splashing the pot. Then add milk, continue to boil, and then add the processed agar, stirring while heating until the liquid boils and the agar is completely dissolved. 6 Sieve the almond paste into a container, then use a small spoon to skim off the foam on the surface, and refrigerate after cooling completely for later use. 7 Prepare various fruits, wash and dice or dig balls. Cut the completely solidified almond tofu into small cubes. 8 Put almond tofu cubes and various fruit cubes in a small bowl, pour the prepared syrup on top, and mix well when eating.

Tips

A. If you don't use a soymilk machine, you can also use a blender to beat the almonds into almond pulp directly after soaking. If you use a blender, you can beat it several times and try to make it finer. At the same time, you need to heat and cook it later. B. The solidification ratio of agar is 100:0.8~1. That is to say, 0.8~1g of agar needs to be added to 100ml of water, and so on. The more agar is added, the crispier and harder the almond tofu will be, so the amount of agar should not be too much. C. If you make syrup almond tofu, I personally recommend using agar as a coagulant. The agar should be soaked in clean water in advance until it is completely transparent and swollen, and it must be heated and boiled until the agar is completely dissolved. D. After the almond tofu solidifies, it will automatically separate from the container wall, so there is no need to apply oil to the container in advance to prevent sticking.

Agar-Crystal Purple Sweet Potato Mooncake:

This agar mooncake looks beautiful, but it is even more beautiful in person than in the picture.

It is very simple to make. While the weather is still warm, eating the crystal-like mooncake will make you feel cooler.

The skin is made with very simple ingredients, because only in this way can the mooncake be transparent enough. In fact, you can also add some ingredients such as milk and coconut milk, which will also be beautiful but not transparent. You can choose what you need.

Main ingredients: agar agar 10g water, 500g sugar, and an appropriate amount of purple sweet potato.

How to make crystal purple sweet potato mooncakes

1. Peel the purple sweet potato, put it in a pot, and steam it for 20 minutes after the water boils.

2. Soak the agar in cold water for 30 minutes.

3. Mash the steamed purple sweet potato into a paste.

4. After the agar is soaked, pour out the water and add clean water again.

5 Cook over medium-low heat, stirring with a spoon while cooking until the water boils and the agar is completely dissolved. Add an appropriate amount of white sugar and stir until dissolved.

6. The prepared agar water can be filtered again and set aside to cool.

7. When the agar water is not so hot, about 40 degrees, you can pour a part of it into the mould and put it in the refrigerator for a while.

8. Make the purple sweet potato filling.

9 Wait for the agar water on the bottom layer to solidify slightly, and put the purple sweet potato filling in the middle.

10. Finally, fill the mould and refrigerate until it solidifies.

Agar Butter Pumpkin Cake:

Pumpkin is rich in carotene and vitamin C, which can strengthen the spleen, prevent gastritis, prevent night blindness, protect the liver, make the skin tender, and neutralise carcinogens. Yellow fruits and vegetables are also rich in two vitamins: A and D. D; Vitamin A can protect the gastrointestinal mucosa and prevent diseases such as gastritis and gastric ulcers; vitamin D can promote the absorption of calcium and phosphorus, thereby strengthening bones and tendons, and has a certain preventive effect on common diseases such as rickets in children, myopia in adolescents, and osteoporosis in the middle-aged and elderly. Agar pumpkin cake is not only a favourite snack for children but also a healthy food for children's development.

Ingredients: Pumpkin 400g, milk 300g, agar 10g, sugar 80g, whipped cream 2 tablespoons

Production process of agar cream pumpkin cake:

1. Peel and remove the pumpkin.

2. Steam the cut pumpkin in a pot.

3. Soak agar in water.

4. Mash the steamed pumpkin.

5. Heat agar in milk over low heat.

6. Add sugar after agar melts and cook until bubbles appear.

7. Pour pumpkin puree into milk and heat until boiling.

8. Add two spoons of whipped cream and stir evenly.

9. Pour the preparepumpkin milkin into mouldld and refrigerate for two or three hours.

Agar Purple Sweet Potato Cake:

Agar Purple Sweet Potato Cake is rich in dietary fibre and anthocyanin, which has special effects such as laxative, anti-ageing, and anti-cancer. It is our daily healthy food.

Ingredients: 1 purple sweet potato, 205 ml milk, 30 g sugar, and 10 g agar.

Soak agar in water for 30 minutes.

Steam the purple sweet potato in a steamer.

Peel the purple sweet potato while it is hot and mash it into a paste.

Pour the mashed potato, sugar, and milk into a blender and blend into a fine paste.

Boil water in a pot, add the soaked agar, and cook until it is completely dissolved.

Pour in the purple sweet potato paste and stir evenly.

Brush a thin layer of oil in a glass bowl, pour in the cooked purple sweet potato agar paste, let it cool, and put it in the refrigerator for one hour; then take it out and cut it into pieces.