Recipe: Sour cream caviar

"Caviar" or "pearls" are very popular in modern cuisine.  They are attractive, give a dish an interesting and delightful mouth-feel, and are very easy to make.  This recipe uses sour cream, but the basic formula is easily applied to just about any juice or puree you would want to use.

You will need:

1 L (at least)  vegetable oil
250 ml           sour cream
5 sheets         gelatin (you can substitute 1 tsp powder per sheet)
2.5 g              agar agar
to taste          salt
to taste          lemon juice
   1                 squeeze bottle

Method:

-  put the oil in a tall container in the freezer about an hour ahead -  soak the gelatin, drain and set aside
-  mix the sour cream with lemon juice, salt (maybe some water) so it is loose and tasty - measure out 250 ml
-  mix the agar with about 3/4 the sour cream with a whisk till smooth
-  in a saucepan, bring the mixture to a simmer, then melt in gelatin
-  mix in the remaining sour cream to cool it down slightly, then transfer to the squeeze bottle
-  when the mix is cooled slightly, but still warm, squeeze the drops (you can go fairly quickly) into the oil
-  once the bottle is empty, let the caviar set in the oil a few minutes, then drain well
-  store in a completely dry container in the fridge until use