Kanten

Yesterday, I decided to make Kanten, flavouring it with red currant for the sweet little pink cubes you see above. I'd never made Kanten before, so I found the texture rather tricky to work with. It was very prone to breaking, which was rather annoying. I don't think adding more powder would help, though. ^.^;

For you who don't know what Kanten is, it is known by another name in the rest of the world: agar (or agar-agar). It's a substance extracted from seaweed that has no odor, taste or colour, and that is a bit similar to gelatine - with the biggest differences being that agar is not bouncy and breaks easier, and that agar is plant-based. (I know vegetarians use this as a substitute for gelatine, but I wouldn't - it doesn't share any more properties than firming up into jelly.)

I stumbled over agar-agar powder in my favourite grocery store (a local one that sells tons of Asian stuff! <3), and as I'd encountered it before I decided to try. It was ridiculously easy to make and get to set - but quite difficult to flavour and cut, or even get out of the mould as it would split and break quite easily. (I don't know if there's a trick to it, but I'd be grateful if anyone knows an easy way to stop it from doing that.) The most different thing about it, as I found it, is texture. It doesn't correspond to anything I've ever eaten, which makes it interesting enough to keep experimenting with. It is light food, and as you know I like light foods much better than heavy ones, so this suits my taste well. <3

One the downside (I suppose) is that it's yet another zero calorie food I've come across, and I'm not so sure that's a good thing. I guess it would be good if you were trying to diet, but the problem as I see it is that eating things with zero calories (like this or Shirataki noodles), you most likely also get zero nutrition out of it, and that's not very good for the body. (It is said to have calcium and iron, though, but I have not been able to confirm this information.)

On the upside, Kanten is supposedly very good for your congestion as it's very high on fibers (just like Shirataki noodles), and it's also said to lower cholestrole and it absorbs glucose, bringing it with it out of the body. (If that was a bit difficult to understand, try this: it lowers the sugar levels in your body.) I'd say that it might be good as a complement to something else, and probably good if you are prone to eat (or drink) an excess of sugar. ^.~ <3

A word of caution before I go: Kanten (agar) absorbs water, so you have to drink enough water not to get dehydrated it you eat it.