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Agar

Also called kanten, kan-zarashi tokoroten, Japanese isinglass and China grass

Agar is a thickener sold dried or as a powder. Cooks boil or simmer it to thicken dishes and give them a gelatinous texture.

Texture
Gelatinous
Cooked most in
Asia
Top country
Indonesia
Agar, packaged

Photo: Unkky · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons

In the kitchen

How to use agar

Typical ways to cook or use it

  • Boil simmer
  • Thicken

Cooking with it

For jelly, boil agar in water until dissolved. Agar mixed with water sets below about 32–42 °C and melts above 85 °C.

Flavour

Taste and texture

Texture

  • Gelatinous

Shopping

Choosing and storing agar

Sold as
Dried, Powder

Nutrition

What 100 g of agar holds

Per 100 g, raw. Averages from USDA; real values vary by variety, season and growing conditions.

Protein 7%Fat 0%Carbohydrate 92%of the macronutrients by weight

Nutrition per 100 g of agar, raw
Energy26 kcal · 109 kJ
Protein0.54 g
Fat0.03 g
of which saturated0.01 g
Carbohydrate6.8 g
of which sugars0.28 g
Fibre0.5 g
Sodium9 mg
Cholesterol0 mg
Nutrition per 100 g of agar, raw: minerals and vitamins
Potassium226 mg
Calcium54 mg
Iron1.9 mg
Magnesium67 mg
Zinc0.58 mg
Folate85 µg

Source: USDA FoodData Central (food 169280), public domain. Minerals and vitamins are listed only where USDA measured a non-zero amount.

Around the world

Where agar is cooked

1 dish in the catalogue uses agar. Here is where they come from.

Dishes by continent

Countries whose dishes use it most

Counts are catalogued dishes from each country that list agar among their ingredients.

Origins

  1. 1658 · Japan

    A method for making agar is believed to have been discovered in Japan in 1658.

On the table

Dishes made with agar

1 dish in the catalogue uses it.

  • Cenil

    Indonesia

Dish lists come from Wikidata; a dish counts when its recorded ingredients include agar.

Cooked together

Ingredients that go into the same catalogued dishes.
Photo credits for this page (5)

Around the world

What agar is called

Names in 79 languages, from Wikidata.

  • Spanish

    agar-agar · agaragar · agar · kanten

  • French

    agar-agar · agar agar · agar

  • Italian

    agar agar · agar-agar · kanten

  • Portuguese

    ágar-ágar · Agar agar · Agarófita · Agár

  • German

    Agar · Chinesische Gelatine · Agar-Agar · Agartang

  • Dutch

    agar · agarose · agar-agar · agaragar

  • Greek

    άγαρ

  • Turkish

    Agar · Agar Agar

  • Russian

    Агар-агар · Агар Агар · Мясопептонный агар · Е406

  • Polish

    agar-agar

  • Arabic

    أغار · الآجار · آجار · آغار

  • Persian

    آگار · اگار

Show all 79 languages

  • Afrikaans

    Agar-agar

  • Albanian

    Agari

  • Armenian

    ագար-ագար

  • Azerbaijani

    Aqar

  • Bangla

    অ্যাগার

  • Basque

    Agar-agar

  • Belarusian

    агар · агар-агар

  • Belarusian (Taraskievica orthography)

    агар · агар-агар

  • Bishnupriya

    আগার

  • Bosnian

    Agar

  • Bulgarian

    Агар-агар

  • Burmese

    ကျောက်ကျော

  • Cantonese

    大菜

  • Catalan

    Agar-agar

  • Chinese

    洋菜 · 石花菜 · 瓊脂 · 琼脂

  • Crimean Tatar

    Agar-agar

  • Croatian

    Agar · Hranidbena podloga

  • Czech

    agar · Agar agar · Japonská želatina · Agar-agar

  • Danish

    Agar

  • Egyptian Arabic

    الاجار

  • Esperanto

    agaragaro · kanten · agaro

  • Estonian

    Agar · Agar-agar

  • Filipino

    Agar

  • Finnish

    Agar · Agar-agar · Agaroosi

  • Galician

    Ágar-ágar

  • Georgian

    აგარ-აგარი

  • Hebrew

    אגר · אגרוז · E406 · E 406

  • Hindi

    अगर · अगार

  • Hungarian

    agaragar

  • Ido

    Agar-agaro

  • Indonesian

    Agar-agar · Agar · Agarose · Agarosa

  • Irish

    agar

  • Japanese

    寒天 · かんてん · 寒天料理 · 寒晒し心太

  • Javanese

    Ager-ager

  • Kannada

    ಅಗಾರ್

  • Kazakh

    Агар · Агар-агар

  • Kazakh (Arabic)

    اگار

  • Kazakh (China)

    اگار

  • Kazakh (Cyrillic)

    Агар

  • Kazakh (Kazakhstan)

    Агар

  • Kazakh (Latin)

    Agar

  • Kazakh (Türkiye)

    Agar

  • kge

    Agor

  • Korean

    우무 · 우무묵 · 한천

  • Kyrgyz

    Агар-агар

  • Latin

    Agar

  • Latvian

    agars · agaragars

  • Literary Chinese

    石花菜

  • Lithuanian

    Agaragaras

  • Macedonian

    Агар

  • Malay

    Agar-agar · Beleda

  • Malayalam

    അഗർ · Agar

  • Maltese

    Agar

  • Min Nan Chinese

    Chhài-iàn

  • Norwegian Bokmål

    agar

  • Occitan

    Agar-agar

  • Punjabi

    ਐਗਾਰ

  • Romanian

    agar-agar · geloză

  • Serbian

    агар · Агал-агал · Кинеска трава · Агар-агар

  • Serbian (Cyrillic)

    Агар

  • Serbian (Latin)

    Agar

  • Serbian (Latin)

    Agar

  • Simplified Chinese

    洋菜

  • Simplified Chinese (China)

    洋菜

  • Simplified Chinese (Singapore)

    洋菜

  • Slovak

    agar

  • Slovenian

    agar · agar-agar

  • Sundanese

    Ager

  • Swedish

    Agar · Agar Agar · Agar-agar

  • Tajik

    Агар-агар

  • Tajik (Latin)

    Agar-agar

  • Tamil

    அகார் · அகரோசு · அகார் அகார்

  • Thai

    วุ้น

  • Traditional Chinese

    洋菜

  • Traditional Chinese (Hong Kong SAR China)

    洋菜

  • Traditional Chinese (Taiwan)

    洋菜

  • Udmurt

    агар · агар-агар

  • Ukrainian

    агар-агар

  • Urdu

    اگاروز · Agarose

  • Uzbek

    Agar-agar · Agar-Agar

  • Vietnamese

    Agar

  • Western Panjabi

    ایگر

  • Wu Chinese

    琼脂

Sources and credits

Data

Wikidata item: Q177998

Photos

Photo: Unkky · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons