02.
History
history & nomenclature
Agar was first discovered in the mid-17th century by Mino Tarozaemon, a Japanese innkeeper, when extracted seaweed was left outside the inn overnight and froze. With repeated thawing, pressing and freezing, a pure, dry, papery product was obtained, which the Japanese call kanten. Kanten, means “cold weather.”
Other names include China grass, Jaffna moss, Ceylon moss and Japanese isinglass throughout Asia, Malaysia and Indonesia.
Today, agar agar is widely used in Japan, Mexico, Vietnam and the Philippines to make various confections, such as Dulce de Agar and anmitsu.