If you haven’t noticed by now, I like kid food. I think it goes along with being picky. When I was omnivorous, but past the age of 10, I really didn’t eat a whole lot of Jello. I mean, who would want to eat chemically red stuff that wiggles and comes in a plastic container? But homemade is another story!
This uses agar, a plant version of gelatin that comes from seaweed. I pretty much hate seaweed in every other form, whether it’s in the ocean and touching me or wrapped around sushi rice, but here it has no taste. Or sliminess (the reason I hate to touch the fresh stuff). The original recipe can be found here, and you’ll see where I made changes. I did not add any sweetener- which is fine, but I think I would next time.
Strawberry-Mango Kanten
1 pint strawberries
1.5 cups mango juice
2.5 cups water
1/4 cup agar flakes
Add mango juice and 1/2 cup of water to a sauce pan, and sprinkle in the agar flakes. Mix, and let sit for 20 minutes. Wash and hull the strawberries, toss into a blender with the rest of the water. Blend until smooth. If you really don’t want strawberry seeds in your finished product, at this point you’ll want to pour the strawberry mixture through a fine sieve lined with cheese cloth. I did not- I think the seeds add to the homemade feeling of the dish! Turn the mango-agar mixture on medium heat, and bring to just below a boil. Stir continually over heat until all the agar is dissolved. Remove from heat and let cool for 5 minutes. Once cooled, add mango mixture to strawberry mixture in the blender and blend briefly to mix (you could probably add the strawberry mixture to the mango in the pan and just mix throughly, if you don’t want to play around with hot liquids in your blender Just make sure to mix it well!). You might also want to add a liquid sweetener such as agave or maple syrup or stevia at this point to suit your taste. Pour into a flat dish with sides or individual parfait cups. Chill for at least 2 hours; no need to cover. The ones pictured above were poured into a baking dish and cut out with a cookie cutter; they could also be sliced into bars.
A note on mango juice: while it’s called “juice,” what I’m using (from Trader Joe’s) has a decidedly “nectar” consistency, which is why I cut it with water. If you do this with apple juice or any other thin juice, go ahead and use 2 cups without extra water in the agar mixture (still add the other 2 cups of water to the strawberries!).
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