Tangerine Agar-agar 柑橘燕菜

With the Chinese New Year almost over, I am definitely looking at ways to dispose of the 8 odd boxes of tangerine that we have in our household. I experimented with this tangerine agar-agar recipe since it is the easiest.

Tangerine juice is milder compared to its more acidic citrus peers like orange and lemon. Therefore, I added a little calamansi lime juice to elevate the tangy flavour. I added a milk layer in the middle to give the agar-agar a burst of milky sweetness to the otherwise mere tangy dish. It definitely took more effort and time but it turned out so pretty I almost did not want to eat it. The robust natural orange colour looked so inviting and the white line gave a little cutesy pattern to it. If you think making the line is too much of a hassle, you could do just a white layer on top.

The tangerine agar-agar actually tasted like your orange jelly. Only this is better as it uses all natural flavour and colouring. My only regret is I did not make more as it was polished off in no time. Perhaps, I should make another batch, this time pairing the tangerine agar-agar with coconut milk or even fruits to see how it turns out. Should I?

Tangerine Agar-agar 柑橘燕菜

(Makes 4 small cups of agar-agar)

Ingredients

8 gm agar-agar
200 ml tangerine juice
1 tsp tangerine zest
juice from 2 calamansi (or to taste)
60 gm sugar
300 ml water
1 1/2 tbsp condensed milk

Cooking Instruction

1. Wash agar-agar. Add tangerine zest and water and boil until agar-agar dissolves.

2. Sieve 50 ml agar-agar solution into a cup. Add condensed milk to the agar-agar solution. Keep warm by soaking in hot water.

3. Add calamansi and tangerine juice to the remaining agar-agar solution. Bring to a boil. Remove from fire and sieve half of the solution into little teacups. Keep the other half warm by soaking in hot water.

4. Chill the teacups in the refrigerator. Once the agar-agar hardens, poke holes on the surface. This would prevent the top layer from coming off. Pour the milk agar-agar solution equally into the moulds. Return to chill in the refrigerator.

5. Once harden, remove agar-agar again and make holes. Sieve in the last half of the agar-agar and chill. Serve chilled.


Note:
1. I only made a small batch as this is experimental. Feel free to double or triple the recipe.
2. It is advisable to wash your sieve after every use before the agar-agar hardens on your sieve. If the agar-agar got stuck to the sieve and you have trouble removing it, put the sieve in boiling water to melt the agar-agar.




Have excess agar-agar? Try this Candied Agar-Agar recipe: