Substitute for Agar?

[sailalias]

Is there a common kitchen thing that might be a suitable sub for agar? I REALLY want to make the No-Bake Black Bottom-Peanut Butter Silk Pie from VwaV after seeing someone's drool-worthy picture of it over in

Comments

[spirulinai]

if you've got carageenan, it works even better than agar.
otherwise, i'm not sure.. pectin? cornstarch? neither would make it as firm. good luck!

[sailalias]

Thanks! I think I'll just wait until tomorrow and try another store. I'll keep the carageenan in mind if I can't find the agar again!

[im_sassy]

i'm not sure what you could use as a substitute, but you definitely should not leave it out of the pie- it is an integral part.

also, at my whole foods, agar is located by the seaweed and other asian products.

[sailalias]

Thanks for the info. I looked there at my Whole Foods...who knows if I missed it or what. I've never bought it before, so I was going in a little blind. I guess dessert will just have to wait until tomorrow!

[human_oven]

I just bought some agar today at the asian market, and it was $1.59 for a 1.5 ounce bag. I've used it before and it works well, so if you have an asian market near you, check it out. It's either in stringy form or bar (kanten) form. I've used kanten and bought stringy for economy. I think I'll try powdering it for easier measurement, but yeah, it's the same stuff, and there's a bunch of different kinds.

[cheerjess]

if you can't find agar, you can still make a very tasty silken tofu pie with the flavors alone. It just won't be the same texture.

[whisperdryad]

arrowroot should work similarly... it's in most grocery stores with the spices. Wait! if you can find pectin in the jello area, that would be even closer. Agar is gonna make your recipe jelly-ee ... arrowroot would thicken it a lot, but it would stil be goopy (just more viscous). If you can find pectin, this would be the closest to agar ... though I do not know the right amounts, so I'd just try the same as agar.

[sailalias]

Thanks! It's reassuring to have other options if I can't find the damn agar again.