If you’ve visited my blog a few times, the chances are that you’ve heard of aquafaba – a miraculous plant-based egg replacer – as I’m in love with its amazing properties and use it often. If this is the first time you hear about it, here goes: aquafaba is a legume cooking liquid that has been discovered to emulate egg whites.
If you would like to read up more about this discovery and the science behind it, check out this informative website set up by the people who discovered that what we all used to chuck down the drain is, in fact, an invaluable cooking ingredient. People report success with many varieties of legumes (cannellini, black beans and lima beans to name just a few), but I myself love chickpeas and so chickpea aquafaba is the only type I’ve ever used. Below is full explanation on how to get this magic liquid out of dry chickpeas. You can also use the brine from a tin of chickpeas, but there are a few problems with that. Firstly, most tins contain harmful BPA, which has been linked to many serious illnesses, so many people try to avoid it. Secondly, ideally you do not want any salt in your aquafaba and all tinned chickpea brands I am aware of add sodium. Thirdly, using tinned aquafaba is more expensive than making your own. Finally, people have reported issues with consistency with some brands – some brands work, some don’t. For all these reasons, I prefer to prepare aquafaba from scratch. What can I use it for? I hear you ask. Pretty much anything you would use an egg white for…Here is a round-up of SOME of the foods aquafaba has helped me make or to make better. If you love experimenting in the kitchen, I recommended joining a group called Vegan Meringue – Hits and Misses on Facebook, where you’ll find plenty of encouragement, great tips and knowledge from a bunch of amazing vegan cooks.
- fudgy brownies 2. creamy strawberry cheesecake 3. airy chocolate mousse 4. vegan meringues 5. moist orange semolina cakes 6. vegan lemon meringue pies 7. Sriracha vegan mayo 8. Greek zucchini fritters 9. Mediterranean meatballs 10. crispy veggie tempura 11. smooth, oil-free hummus 12. crispy low-fat granola
