A Vegan Molecular Egg

During MoFo I posted that I had bought a molecular gastronomy kit and on the weekend I finally got a chance to play with it! It was exciting trying something new and completely unfamiliar to me. I checked out the recipes on the DVD and the Molecular Egg definitely caught my eye. The thing I love most about molecular gastronomy is how it can be so playful and what you see isn't always what you get and this recipe was exactly that. The original recipe has milk and yogurt so I just switched it out for soy milk and So Delicious coconut yogurt (my new favourite thanks to Rainbow Foods).

Basically the "egg white" is milk mixed with agar agar which is then mixed with vanilla yogurt and then spread on the plate to resemble the white. The yolk is mango chunks mixed in a blender with a little sugar and calcium lactate. You then have to put it in a sodium alginate bath, rinse with water and presto! you have a "egg".

I gotta say the "white" was cold which is not what you are expecting obviously but it shared a similar texture that I remember from my pre-vegan egg eating days. The "yolk" was delicious since it was mango. Mac even braved a taste of my creation (muwhahahaha...evil laugh) and thought the yolk was yummy but was a little turned off by the white. He has never had egg in any form since he was diagnosed with a serious allergy to it before we even would have introduced it so it was like his first egg. He's been asking for vegan green eggs and ham since I read about someone else making that a while back so maybe this will be the way I can make it.

I definitely had fun playing around with it and can't wait to try to make the infamous foam (I might be the only one that loved Marcel on Top Chef I know). They do have recipes on the site but unfortunately not the one for the egg. Check it out if you are into this kind of stuff, they also have videos with sexy music to lure you into buying a kit...just warning you!

My First Molecular Gastronomy Kit

I know it's not every one's thing but Molecular Gastronomy is so interesting to me. I always used to ask for science kits and an Easy Bake oven for Christmas as a kid so it all makes sense right? I found this kit from Molecule-R in Montreal online and I immediately added it to my Christmas wish list. But I have it now you say...yeah, I'm crazy impatient and ended up talking my husband into getting it now instead of waiting til Christmas. The kit is so cool, even the packaging had me all geeked out. It comes with Agar-agar, Calcium Lactate (when I ordered I asked if it was non-dairy and they said yes but please check again for yourself before ordering since these things can change), Sodium Alginate, Soy Lecithin, Xantham Gum, a tool kit and an instructional DVD. I haven't had a chance to try it out yet but I did watch the DVD and look through the recipes they included. Good news to vegans, a lot of the recipes are already vegan or easily made so (eg. agave for honey or non-dairy milk for milk) though some are definitely not. I can't wait to get a moment to try this whole thing out. I really want to try making fruit noodles and there is a recipe on the DVD for a molecular egg and it's actually vegan...though it's made as a dessert with coconut milk. I think I might work on a savoury version too though since I have been seeing pictures of a vegan egg sandwich from Homegrown Smoker in Portland. I'll keep you posted! 

Sorry for the cover picture...the salmon is the only thing on there
that I think is not-vegan and it's right on the front. I apologize if anyone
is freaked out by that.

Contents of the tool kit you get with the kit