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.

Agar apricot jam's main ingredient is apricot, also known as apricot puree. Apricot flesh and kernels are edible. Apricot fruit is rich in nutrition, containing a variety of organic ingredients and vitamins and inorganic salts necessary for the human body. It is a fruit with high nutritional value. Apricot is the fruit with the richest content of vitamin B17, and vitamin B17 is an extremely effective anti-cancer substance, and it only has a killing effect on cancer cells and has no toxicity to normal healthy cells.

Ingredients: apricot meat, appropriate amount; auxiliary ingredients: agar, appropriate amount.

Ingredients: White sugar, appropriate amount; lemon, appropriate amount.

Agar Apricot Jam—Preparation Procedure:

1. Wash the apricots, dry them, peel them, cut them in half, and remove the core.

2. Cut the cored apricots into small pieces.

3. Soak agar in warm water and set aside.

4 Put the diced apricots into the pot.

5. Add 500 grammes of white sugar (crystal sugar is also OK). Apricots are a little sour. If you want to eat them sweeter, add more sugar. The amount is up to you.

6. Mix the sugar and apricots evenly and set aside. When the sugar is completely melted and the apricots have a lot of juice, start to boil.

7 Bring to a boil over medium heat, then turn to low heat and continue to boil.

8. Next, simmer slowly over low heat, stirring constantly while boiling to prevent the pot from sticking.

9. When the apricots are boiled until they are thick and the juice is almost half gone, add agar and lemon juice.

10. Simmer for a while.

Agar Hawthorn Cake—Benefits to the Body

1. Promote digestion and metabolism

​Digestion and elimination of accumulation

Hawthorn is rich in organic acids (such as citric acid and malic acid), which can stimulate gastric juice secretion, enhance pepsin activity, and accelerate protein and fat decomposition, and it is especially suitable for relieving meat stagnation, abdominal distension, and abdominal pain.

​Improve intestinal health

Agar and pectin content is as high as 2%, which can delay the rise of blood sugar after meals, promote intestinal peristalsis, help detoxification, and prevent constipation and colon diseases. Its dietary fibre can also maintain the balance of intestinal flora.

2. Cardiovascular system protection

​Lowering blood lipids and blood pressure

Flavones (such as catechins) and vitamin C work synergistically to reduce lipid oxidation, reduce blood viscosity, and assist in regulating blood lipids (triglycerides, cholesterol) and blood pressure. It is clinically used for auxiliary treatment of hyperlipidemia and arteriosclerosis.

​Activating blood circulation and removing blood stasis

Promote blood circulation and relieve amenorrhoea, heart and abdomen stabbing pain, and chest pain (such as angina pectoris caused by coronary heart disease) caused by blood stasis. Panax notoginseng can enhance this effect and improve microcirculation.

3. Immunity enhancement and anti-oxidation

​Improve immunity

The vitamin C content far exceeds that of citrous (53-81 mg per 100 g of fresh fruit), promotes antibody production and iron absorption, and enhances resistance. Long-term drinking of hawthorn water can reduce the risk of infection.

​Removal of free radicals

Polyphenols, flavonoids, and other ingredients are strong antioxidants, delay cell ageing, and prevent chronic diseases (such as cancer and inflammation).

​Other health benefits

​Calming and soothing: can relieve anxiety and improve insomnia.

​Beauty and beauty: Vitamin C inhibits melanin production and maintains skin elasticity; antioxidants reduce wrinkles.

​Assisted weight loss: accelerates metabolism and promotes fat burning.

​Diuretic and detumescence: promotes water metabolism and relieves edoema.

Ingredients: 500g fresh hawthorn, 1 apple, some rock sugar, a pinch of salt, 5g agar, half a cup of water.

1 Take fresh hawthorn

2 Soak in light salt water for ten minutes and then rinse

3 Take a hawthorn, remove the two ends and then cut it in the middle to remove the stem and seeds

4 All the dug hawthorns

5 Peel the apple and cut it into small pieces

6 Put the apple and hawthorn meat into a food processor and add half a cup of water to make hawthorn apple puree

7 Put the hawthorn apple puree into a stainless steel pot, add a little salt, boil it and then heat it on low heat, and add appropriate amount of rock sugar according to your taste

8 During this period, stir constantly with a wooden spoon to prevent sticking to the pot

9 When it is slightly sticky, add agar soaked in water, and wait until the agar is dissolved without particles

10 Take an appropriate amount of the prepared jam, pour it on a baking tray covered with tin foil, and use a scraper to spread it into an even thin slice

11 In order to save time, I put it in the oven and bake it at 80 degrees for 1 hour, then take it out and let it dry for 1 day to make it into fruit danpi. If it is not baked, it needs to be dried for 2-3 days. 12 Slowly peel the fruit leather off the paper

13 Roll it up

14 Cut it into small pieces

Agar almond osmanthus tofu:

1. Cardiovascular protection

​Lower cholesterol

The unsaturated fatty acids in almonds (accounting for about 45%-67%) can reduce the level of low-density lipoprotein ("bad cholesterol"), inhibit lipid deposition in blood vessel walls, and prevent arteriosclerosis and cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases.

​Regulate blood pressure and blood lipids

Rich minerals such as magnesium and potassium help maintain vascular elasticity and reduce the risk of hypertension.

2. Respiratory health

​Relieve cough and asthma

Bitter almonds contain amygdalin (about 2%-4%), which can inhibit the respiratory centre and relieve cough and asthma, and are especially suitable for wind-cold or dry cough.

​Moisturize the lungs and clear dryness

Sweet almonds are flat in nature and have a milder moisturising effect on the lungs. They are suitable for dry throat and dry cough caused by autumn dryness.

3. Metabolic regulation and anti-aging

​Stabilize blood sugar

Studies have shown that eating 28 grammes of almonds (about 5 pieces) before meals can reduce blood sugar levels in diabetic patients by 30% after meals and 7% in healthy people.

​Antioxidant and anti-aging

Vitamin E and polyphenols fight free radicals, reduce cell oxidative damage, and protect skin elasticity.

4. Improvement of digestive system

​Intestinal lubrication

Almond oil (especially sweet almond) can lubricate the intestines, promote colon peristalsis, and relieve constipation and is suitable for the elderly and weak.

​Promote digestion and absorption

Dietary fibre (about 12 g/100 g) enhances intestinal function and helps prevent colon cancer.

5. Nutritional supplement and immune enhancement

​High protein and minerals

The protein content is twice that of grains, and the content of minerals such as calcium, phosphorus, zinc, and copper is significant (calcium is 3 times higher than milk, and potassium is 4 times higher).

​Enhance immunity

Vitamin B and zinc elements synergistically support the activity of immune cells and reduce the risk of infection.

Ingredients: 50g almond powder, 250ml milk, 250ml water, 10g agar, 25g sugar, appropriate amount of honey, appropriate amount of osmanthus.

Agar Cherry Jelly:

Agar Cherry Jelly has strong antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effects. Ingredients such as anthocyanins can reduce the damage of free radicals to cells and delay ageing.

1. Good for cardiovascular health, rich in potassium (about 230 mg per 100 grammes), which helps maintain healthy blood pressure.

2. Helps improve sleep quality. Cherries contain melatonin and tryptophan, which can regulate sleep disorders.

3. Promote digestive health. The dietary fibre content of cherries exceeds 2%, which is higher than many vegetables.

4. May relieve gout symptoms. Studies have shown that gout patients who eat cherries for two consecutive days have a 35% lower risk of attacks.

5. Potential benefits for vision health.

According to data, 100g of cherries contains 7mg of vitamin C, which is lower than oranges, but synergistic anthocyanins can enhance immunity, promote collagen synthesis, and improve skin condition. The potassium content is about 222~258 mg/100 g, which is close to bananas (256 mg) but has lower calories (63 kcal/100 g), which helps regulate blood pressure and maintain heart function. Dietary fibre: The content is over 2%, higher than most vegetables, which promotes intestinal peristalsis and prevents constipation. The high proportion of fructose and extremely low GI value have little effect on blood sugar, making it suitable for diabetic patients to eat in moderation.

Ingredients: Cherry juice (about 200g), agar (5g), cherries (appropriate amount), sugar (50g), purified water (300ml)

Agar Cherry Jelly Making Procedure

Filter the cherry juice from the jam.

Soak the agar in clean water for more than 3 hours.

Put the agar in a pot and add enough pure water.

Bring to a boil over medium heat, turn to low heat, stir constantly, and cook until the agar is basically melted.

Pour the cooked agar liquid into the cherry juice and stir evenly.

Put the cherry in the mould, pour in the agar liquid with cherry juice, and put it in the refrigerator to form.

Agar papaya coconut milk jelly

​Promote digestion and strengthen the spleen

​Protease activity: Papaya contains papain, which can break down protein and fat, relieve indigestion, bloating, and improve nutrient absorption efficiency.

​Harmonize the stomach and eliminate dampness: Xuan papaya is warm and sour in nature, enters the spleen meridian, can regulate spleen and stomach disharmony, vomiting and diarrhea, and is suitable for gastrointestinal discomfort caused by summer heat and dampness.

​Anti-inflammatory analgesic and muscle relaxation

​Relieve joint pain: The flavonoids in Xuan papaya can inhibit inflammatory factors, relieve rheumatic pain, waist and knee weakness, and are often used with mutton or soaked in wine for external application in traditional use.

​Anti-inflammatory activity: Papaya's oleanolic acid and papain chymosin have a relieving effect on chronic inflammation (such as arthritis).

​Enhance immunity and anti-oxidation

​High vitamin C: Papaya's vitamin C content is 48 times that of apples, and it cooperates with carotenoids to remove free radicals and delay cell aging.

​Immune regulation: Xuan papaya polysaccharide can increase immunoglobulin levels and enhance disease resistance.

​Lactation: Papain stimulates breast development, and mothers can drink papaya fish tail soup to help with lactation (green papaya should be selected).

​Potential anti-tumor: Papain and isothiocyanate can inhibit the proliferation of cancer cells (such as breast cancer and prostate cancer), but they need to be combined with standardized treatment.

​Assisted in blood sugar control: Animal studies have shown that papaya leaf extract can lower blood sugar.

Ingredients: Papaya (appropriate amount), coconut milk (appropriate amount), sugar (appropriate amount), agar (8-10g)

Agar papaya coconut milk jelly - cooking procedure

Ingredients: papaya, coconut milk, sugar, 8-10 grams of agar.

Soak the agar in cold water for 3 hours until it becomes soft and transparent.

Wash the surface of the papaya, cut it horizontally about 5cm from the stem to expose the seeds inside, and carefully dig out all the seeds with a long-handled spoon.

Pour the coconut milk into the pot, cook it over medium heat until it just boils, then turn off the heat, pour in the granulated sugar and stir gently until the sugar dissolves.

Take out the softened agar, drain the water, and put it into the coconut milk that has just been removed from the heat, stir gently to dissolve.

Put the pot in cold water to cool it down, pour the coconut milk that has dropped to room temperature into the hollowed-out papaya and keep the papaya upright.

Cover the stem part of the papaya and put it in the refrigerator for two hours.

Take out the papaya and peel off the skin.

Cut it and serve.