Top Menu Right My Account View Cart
4Dec/1039

Balsamic Vinegar Pearls Recipe

PinterestStumbleUponPrintFriendlyShare
1 Star2 Stars3 Stars4 Stars5 Stars (9 votes, average: 4.22 out of 5)
Loading ... Loading ...

The balsamic vinegar pearls are a simple and fantastic way to add a touch of molecular gastronomy to your dishes. The balsamic vinegar is transformed into small jelly balls using agar agar and the cold oil spherification method.

The cold oil spherification method consists of cooling droplets of a hot agar solution below 35 ˚C (95 ˚F) by releasing them in cold oil using a syringe or pipette. Agar agar needs to be heated to boil for jelling and sets at a temperature of about 35-45 ˚C (95-113 ˚F). The droplets need to cool down and set before they reach the bottom of the cold oil container to keep a nice spherical shape.

 

 

Balsamic Vinegar PearlsBalsamic Vinegar Pearls Ingredients

100 g (7 oz) Balsamic Vinegar

1.5 g (1.5%) Agar Agar

Oil Bath

1 cup of oil, cold from being in the freezer for at least 30 min

Preparation

Start by placing the oil in a tall glass in the freezer for at least 30 minutes. It is better if you use a tall glass so there is more time for the balsamic vinegar droplets to get cold and gel before reaching 4-Arugula spaghettothe bottom.

Once the oil has been in the freezer for at least 30 minutes, put the balsamic vinegar in a saucepan, dissolve the agar agar and bring it to the boil, stirring constantly with a beater. Take off the heat and skim to eliminate any impurities.

Wait a few minutes until the temperature drops to 50-55 ˚C (~120-130 ˚F). If the liquid is too hot, the droplets may not cool down enough and therefore not gel completely before reaching the bottom of the glass resulting in deformed spheres.

Fill a syringe with the hot balsamic agar solution and expel it drop by drop into the cold oil. The syringe needs to be high enough for the drops to sink when they get in contact with the oil but not too high or the drops may break into smaller drops creating “baby” spheres. Wait a few minutes and then carefully remove them from the oil bath using a slotted spoon and rinse them in water. You can keep them in a container in the fridge for later use.    

Serving Suggestions

- Serve on salads

- Serve on tomato halves

Recipe adapted from www.molecule-r.com

PinterestStumbleUponPrintFriendlyShare

No related posts.

Tagged as: , Leave a comment

  • Pingback: Arugula Agar Spaghetti Recipe | Molecular Recipes

  • http://www.digital-monkeys.com Victor Ng

    What kind of oil do you use?

    • Quantum Chef

      Any oil is fine. I use canola oil.

      • ghappy2b

        Do the pearls burst open with a little liquid or are they solid?

        • Quantum Chef

          No, these pearls are all solid gel.

        • Anonymous

          No, they are solid gel.

          • ghappy2b

            Could you tell me the process for a liquid center?

  • Italian Chef

    there is another way to do this same gelification, that WILL produce a liquid center but still have the hard outside

    • Anonymous

      What way? Basic spherification will not work because of the acidity and with reverse spherification the spheres will stick together. Do you have another technique you can share with us? Thanks!!

      • Italian Chef

        use this ratio
        .43g agar agar
        1.5 sheets gelatin
        3.38oz balsamic vin
        32 oz of olive oil at 4 degrees C or about 38 degrees F

        bring vinegar to boil for 2 min with agar. add in bloomed gelatin and place in squeeze bottle. you can let it sit for 15 mins to cool at room temp, but its not needed. the bigger the drops you make into the oil the more of a liquid center you will have. then drain with fine mesh strainer and leave then surrounded by a few drops of oil to prevent them from sticking together. the way this works is the gelatin sets before the agar helping to make a liquid center. but of course like i said you need to make bigger pearls to keep more of a liquid center.

        • Myriam

          Hello,

          What do you mean by bloomed gelatin? Do you bloom it in water ? 
          How many grams of gelatine are in the 1.5 sheets ?
          Can you make a detailed tutorial on how to do it. Perhaps you have some techniques for the liquid centre and hard exterior :)

          Thanks,
          Myriam

    • Eli

      If you mix sodium alginate with the liquid that you want to gel, and drop it into a calcium chloride bath, you will have a liquid center but a gelled outside. The issue with agar is that whatever the agar is dissolved in will gel. The alginate-calcium specification is based on a reaction between the two chemicals, so if you remove the spheres from the bath quickly, there is not enough time for the inner liquid to react. If you want a more detailed recipe, look up something like alginate specification.

  • chef_jeff_mti

    Will this work with any liquid or does it have to be balsamic vinegar?

    • Anonymous

      Any liquid should work.

  • leener11

    Will powdered gelatin work instead of agar agar?

    • Anonymous

      Haven’t tried this with gelatin but you may encounter a few issues. There may not be enough time for the gelatin to cool down and set before it reaches the bottom of the container. The high acidity of the balsamic vinegar may inhibit the gelification process. Also, this is not necessarily a problem, but keep in mind that if made with gelatin the pearls will have to be served and consumed cold before the gelatin melts while with agar the pearls can be served at room temperature or even warm/hot.

      • leener11

        Great QC.  Thanks for the info!

  • Brittany

    Would this work with balasmic vinaigrette? Instead of just straight balsamic vinegar? 

    • Anonymous

      Not sure because the Agar may not dissolve in the oil but it may work. Please let us know if you try it!

  • Alyson

    Can you make this a day ahead?  How long will they stay and what is the best way to store them.  I am making them for a catering event on an hors d’oeuvre. 
    Thank you.

    • Anonymous

      Yes you can. Just keep them in a sealed container so they don’t dry. You can add a little of balsamic vinegar to keep them moist too.

      • Alyson

        Thank you!!

  • nitin

    pls tell me gelatin granuals can be use in place of agar agar

    • SFeater

      No I tried it does not solidify fast enough and just disperses in the oil

  • lilfreddie316

    if you made a balsalmic reduction, would this technique still work?

    • QuantumChef

      yes, it should.

  • Anonymous

    Why not icy cold water?

    • QuantumChef

      The high density of the oil gives time to the drop to gel before it reaches the bottom so it keeps the shape.

  • rrkrose

    Are these different than caviar? Are they supposed to be jelly like inside or should they be a liquid inside?

    • QuantumChef

      Yes, they are different. These are all jelly and have no liquid inside.

  • Trailfan8

    Thanks for the recipe.  I tried making these last night (second try at agar pearls) and didn’t have much success. Even though I had my oil in the freezer for 30 minutes and I made sure the temperature of the balsamic mix was cool enough, the oil seemed to warm up too quickly and prevent any of the pearls from setting up completely.  When I strained them out and rinsed, they were all stuck together and unattractive.
    I also had issues with my agar-agar, which is flakes rather than powder.  It never fully dissolved!
    Any advice about these issues?

    • QuantumChef

      I’ve never seen agar agar in flakes, that may be the issue especially if it never dissolved completely.

    • Ben Wood

      for flaked agar it must be dissolved slightly in water first otherwise it will create a corse and lumpy texture

    • emojitsu

      I ran into the same problem, but solved it by placing the oil container in an ice bath. see if that works?

  • Hannah G

    for the arugula spaghetti, could you substitute basil for arugula?

    • QuantumChef

      yes, no problem

      • hannah G

        how much basil would you use? would you still use the same recipe for the spaghetti?

        • QuantumChef

          yes.

  • Jordan

    Why couldn’t you just do reverse spherification but do it carefully so that the drops don’t touch until the membrane solidifies? Than they’ll be able to touch

    • QuantumChef

      This recipe does not use spherification at all but if your question is related to making caviar with reverse instead of basic spherification the answer is that it would take too long to do what you are suggesting but you also have another problem. The high viscosity of the bath in Reverse Spherification will make it difficult to form small “caviar” spheres as it will not allow the droplets to penetrate the bath surface with their small weight.

  • Pingback: Am I Really So Out of Touch? - Page 15

» «

Recipes by Category

As Seen In