FUNCTIONS OF INGREDIENTS

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6. JELLING AGENTS

Item Ingredients Sources and Functions Additional Notes
1 Gelatine
  • Normally translucent granular, often yellowish substance.
  • Created by prolonged boiling of tissues of animal bones, skin or cartilages which contain collagen.
  • Sets to a gel on cooling and returns to liquid at room temperature.
  • Special kinds of gelatin are made only from certain animals or from fish (known as K-gelatin) in order to comply with Jewish kosher or Muslim halal laws. Vegetarians and vegans may substitute similar gelling agents such as agar, nature gum, carrageenan, pectin, or konnayaku sometimes referred to as "vegetable gelatins" although there is no chemical relationship; they are carbohydrates, not proteins. (Extracted from Wikipedia).
  • 4 gelatine leaves = 1 tbsp of gelatine granules.
2 Agar agar
  • Unbranched polysaccaride obtained from the cell walls of red algae or seaweed.
  • Typically sold in packets of strips. Available in powdered form too.
  • Typical formula for making jelly: 0.7 - 1.0 % w/v.
  • Main difference between agar agar and gelatine is that agar agar sets at room temperature and will remain gelled at room temperature while gelatine will eventually melt.
  • Generally powdered agar agar can be substituted with powdered gelatine in equal amount.
 
3 Jelly T
  • Bounciness falls between gelatine and agar agar.
  • Normally available in Taiwan.
 
4 Pectin
  • Natural thickening agent presents in fruits like strawberries, apples and papayas.
  • Available in liquid and powdered form.
  • Needs sugar and acid to set.
 
5 Carrageen
  • also known as Irish moss.
  • Derived from seaweed which grows off the coast of Ireland. Often used in making homebrews and meads. 
 
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