You know the craving that you get on a lazy, rainy weekend that makes you raid the fridge for something easy to make? Yes.
That nagging feeling of hunger when all you have was a pack of bug-infested macaroni and you're craving for seafood pasta? But that's a different story...
Anyway... Let's talk about agar-agar or jelly... I've had a heated argument with my good buddy about the difference between Agar-agar and jelly. This was before I discovered the heavenly texture of konnyaku jelly...
Let me get this straight... For me, my understanding of agar-agar is that it is derived from seaweed... Usually in dried thread form and sometimes powdered form while jelly is usually gelatin made from animal connective tissue and cartilage...
OK?
Now let's move on... Back to the wonderful texture of Konniyaku jelly. It is firm and chewy... The powder is made from Konjac corm which is a weird plant from the Amorphophalus family.
Locally in Malaysia we have a few species with one locally known as Pokok Lekir being the most common. This species looks like a papaya plant with mottled bark and can cause serious itchiness when touched.
I have seen the fruiting stalks and from what I hear the flower spike is something like the famous corpse flower (they're from the same family lah) but
I have never seen the flower blooming in the wild...
In certain parts of the world Konniyaku jelly is banned for the fear of choking hazard it posed while in Japan, there are strict guideline on how big a serving of jelly can be sold to to public.
Being firmer and chewier than normal gelatin derived jelly, the Konniyaku jelly must be chewed prior to swallowing as it will not break simply by crushing it with your tongue!
In Japan Konniyaku jelly powder is also used in meat substitute preparation... We have Konniyaku sashimi, Konniyaku shrimp and squid (my favourite!) , Konniyaku mutton and Konniyaku everything!
OK... I think my posting about my favourite jelly is long enough...
My preferred brand is Jele (that was the only brand available to me when I was in Langkawi) and this comes in different flavours. I prefer to use the original one and will usually cook this in Delite Apple Juice (the cheapest apple juice available at rm2.60/liter).
Now in KL I only managed to get Nona brand and I only managed to get the lychee flavoured powder (lychee flavour is the laziest flavour ever!) so I ended up adding 2 table spoons of lime extract.
There are many ways to prepare your jelly. Basically you just need to pour the powder in a pot, pour juice (water will work but you will have to add flavour or buy pre flavoured powder instead) and stir the best you can before putting on the stove and bring to boil.
The mixture will start to develop fine bubbles that will cloud the surface.
The moment the mixture reached the boiling point, turn off the heat and stir until nomore bubbles on the surface of the mixture. This usually takes about 3-4 minutes. Pour into tray to set. You can add cut fruits (fresh and or canned) to the tray. I 'be tried adding gummy bears and gummy worms and those sour gummy straps to my tray... Konniyaku jelly is that flexible.
Serve chilled. Just remember to cut into small serving size and to chew to avoid choking... :) Enjoy.
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