Homemade Vegan Caviar Black Pearls
These small, shiny black pearls of homemade vegan caviar pop to give way to a surprising amount of subtle ocean flavor- they are salty, fishy, umami, and complex. The flavor isn’t overly strong, but it can’t be missed either- like soft waves of ocean, lapping at the shore, the flavor of these little pearls melt gently in your mouth. Aesthetically, they are everything you might want out of your homemade vegan caviar recipe- small, perfectly round bubbles in shiny, jet-black, reflective hues. This stunning creation will wow you with both it’s looks and the taste- and serves as a great reminder that you can make anything vegan!
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Black Caviar for Valentine’s Day
Perhaps because of the high cost of this luxury ingredient, it’s tendency to be served with champagne, their pearl-like appearance, or because of some sensual, salty, oral sensation, caviar has often been associated with romance. I’m not sure that I buy into some foods being more suited to a romantic evening than others (pass me a slice of romantic garlic bread anytime), but with or without my input the association of caviar and romance continues. And I have to say, coming into Valentine’s day, I do sort of like it. So much of the romance this time of year is painted a bright, garish shade of Barbie-reminiscent pink. These jet-black, shiny, homemade vegan caviar bubbles are the perfect antidote for the “Barbie’s Dream House” syndrome, and really do feel special for Valentine’s day.
Feeling the Love? Here are some Valentine’s Friendly Recipes!
- Savory Chocolate Pasta with Hazelnut Chili Cream Sauce
- Bouquet of Roses Beet & Radish Salad Pizza
- Avocado, Persimmon and Beet Tartare
- Classic Vegan Chocolate Ganache Truffles
- Hibiscus Flower and White Bean Vegan Tostadas
Seaweed Love
Making this recipe brought about the special feeling I get whenever I use dulse. Dulse is a dark purple seaweed (which dries a lighter shade of purple), and is one of my favorite ingredients to use- in part, because it brings back the memories of where we got it. Our dulse was harvested in New Brunswick (technically), although the island it came from is closer to the state of Maine. To support local business, we bought far more seaweed than we can reasonably get through (but since it’s dry, there’s no real rush). Every time I open the battered paper bag, and pull out a chunk of dried sea vegetable, I think of the sun, winds, ocean, lighthouses, and salt marshes of Grand Manan. Knowing where your food came from makes using it, and later eating it, a much more enriching experience.
Homemade Vegan Caviar Bites
After I made my homemade vegan caviar, I threw together some quick little bites for my boyfriend and me- and for good measure, I added a little pink (please ignore previous rant about hating pink at Valentine’s Day). I had some vegan cream cheese left over from the air fried cheese cake wontons I had made earlier in the week (Trader Joe’s variety). I put a little on top of a gluten-free beet cracker, with a tiny sprig of fresh parsley, and a spoonful of my newly formed homemade vegan caviar pearls. A simple, magical, bite.
Making Homemade Vegan Caviar
This recipe works by making a broth, and seasoning it with all the complex, salty, oceany flavors. We also add a little bit of agar agar powder, which is actually a seaweed product, but it has similar jelling properties to gelatin. Because of the agar agar, as your broth cools, it will solidify. In order to get the pearl or bubble shape to our homemade vegan caviar, we take a whole lot of olive oil and chill it. Next, use a simple eye dropper to drop in individual drops, which will solidify as they make their way down through the cold oil. For those of you balking at the 2 cups of olive oil needed to cool the caviar, have no fear- you can reuse it. After you filter out your homemade vegan caviar, just pour it into a jar and continue using it for cooking.
Troubleshooting
If your homemade vegan caviar pearls are not setting up properly, here are a few things to check-
- Are you using agar agar powder, or agar agar flakes? The powder, which this recipe calls for, is about 3 times as concentrated as the flakes, so if you are using the flakes you will need more to create the pearls.
- Did you cook your broth with the agar agar long enough? You need to cook the agar agar, while stirring constantly, for 2-3 minutes once it has reached a boil, or it won’t have the heat to activate.
- Is your oil cool enough? You want your oil to be in the freezer for at least 45 minutes before you drop the homemade vegan caviar pearls in (although you don’t want it so cold that the oil has started to freeze and become chunky).
Homemade Vegan Caviar
Ingredients
- 2 cups of olive oil
- 1 cup water
- 10 grams of ginger, roughly sliced
- 10 grams dried dulse
- 5 grams dried nori
- 1 dehydrated shiitake mushroom
- 1 tbsp. liquid from caper jar
- 1 tsp. soy sauce
- 1 tsp. agar agar powder
- ½ tsp. activated charcoal
Instructions
- Pour your olive oil into a Pyrex container, and place in the refrigerator for 45 minutes to 1 hour (you want the oil to be cold, but not frozen into solid chunks).
- Once the oil is about cool, bring your cup of water to a boil in a small saucepan and reduce to low, adding the ginger, dulse, nori, and shitake mushroom. Allow to steep for 5-10 minutes before removing from the heat and straining, keeping the liquid and discarding the solids.
- Return the water to the saucepan and add the caper brine, soy sauce, agar agar, and activated charcoal. Stir until it is all dissolved, and bring up to a low boil. Let simmer, while stirring, for about 2-3 minutes, as it thickens. Remove from the heat.
- Use an eyedropper, and drip the caviar liquid into the chilled olive oil. Continue until all the liquid is used. If it becomes too solid in the saucepan, you can heat it up with a tablespoon or so of water, and stir until it is liquid again.
- Strain the oil (which can be reused) and store the vegan caviar in the refrigerator until you are ready to serve.
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Let’s hear from you…
- Is caviar a romantic food to you? How do you think food and Valentine’s Day should go together?
- Do you have special ingredients, that you only get from specific locations, like me and my dulse? What does the connection of knowing where your food comes from mean to you?
- Should I make garlic bread for Valentine’s Day this year?
Share your thoughts with us in the comments below!
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very cool..bravo for you….will give it a try ..maybe not for this Valentines…but soon ..for this Valentines am doing beet waffles with raspberry sauce…all organic from the garden..here in N. Germany 🙂 yes, the raspberries were harvested in summer and frozen…but the beets are still being harvested fresh. 🙂 Happy Valentine’s Day to you all all and I DO wish all on earth to be filled with brotherly and unconditional love and respect for one another.
Thanks Chris- and those beet waffles with raspberry sauce sound incredible. Wonderful that you can get a warm bite of summer in snowy February!
hey, any idea how long these will keep? and the best way to store them? thanks for a kickass recipe!
Hi Han, thanks for the comment! These will store well in the fridge, although I’m not sure how long. I kept them for about a week and a half before eating it all. My instinct is the they’ll stay good for quite a while, as long as they’re refrigerated.
I made it! For Thanksgiving! As part of a larger dish.
Delicious, fun to make, and a great salty/briny taste. Really good. I couldn’t find dulse and so used just the nori, but it was good anyway.
I’ll be making it again. Thanks Val!
Hi Carolyn,
That’s so awesome! I’m glad to know there are people in the world besides me who find making their own vegan caviar fun! Thanks so much for letting us know it worked well for you.
How important is the activated charcoal? Is it just for colour or is it an important part of the flavour?
Hi Shelaki, We only added it for color- I haven’t tried this recipe without it, but I think it would be just fine.
Since I was unable to find the charcoal, I used black lentils to add a little black color to the caviar. I simmered about a quarter cup of lentil for 20 minutes in water sufficient to just cover them, drained off the liquid, and then further reduced it until it measured about 1/4 tsp. The cooked black lentils themselves look a lot like caviar, so I saved a little of the seaweed-caviar mixture to coat them and served them as well. Totally different taste and texture, but still fun to pass off as “real” caviar.
That sounds super fun! I love how creative and improvisational you were here.
I am so happy to have found your site! I am not a full vegan, but I eat a lot of vegan foods (I’d say maybe half of my meals are vegan, and the rest are pescatarian), and I am really excited to try this!
Yay, we’re so happy to have you! We do our best to make fun and interesting vegan recipes, so people feel excited about trying them. Let us know if you end up making it!
How long can you store these in the fridge? Thanks!
Hi Kate,
I’m not totally sure. I’ve left them for a couple weeks and they were still fine, but I’ve never tried longer than that!
Hi, how to replace dulse, we don’t have it in Moscow
Great question! We use dulse to get an ocean flavor, so if you have access to another seaweed (like nori) that should work!
Love this! Is there a reason you use olive oil or will other oils work? I found my caviar just tasted of olive oil and not much else… I subbed the dulse for extra nori.. would that make a difference? thanks 🙂
Hi Frances,
I’ve never tried a different oil, but there’s no reason I know of that one wouldn’t work. You could definitely try a more neutral flavored oil. I think that switching out the seaweed might give the caviar a slightly less complex blend of flavors, but it should be totally fine. That being said, these caviar aren’t really a punch-you-in-the-face with flavor, they’re a bit more subtle and do have a bit of a lighter flavor.
I like your flavoring proportions, but this ethod of spherification will result in solid little balls if you try to save the “caviar” in the refrigerator. Even regular molecular gastronomy spherification cabiar will end up solid thru & thru. Hence, the very neat nature of reverse spherification. These will lat & last & can be mixed with a bit of oil to keep the beads from sticking together. Also, if calcium chloride is used as the inner calcium salt, it is actualy salty, which will enhance the caviar taste.
Hi Olen,
You’re right that after some time in the fridge these caviar become hard (but still tasty) balls. The specification I used is a little more friendly to the home cook, but I do have some ambition to come back to and modify it when time allows. I’m sure your comment will be helpful to others wishing to experiment more, thanks!
Best,
Valerie
I was very interested to read the comments that there are still many enthusiasts who love caviar.
Still, homemade caviar requires storage in the refrigerator and retains its shape for a short time. We have developed vegan caviar that has the shape, color and taste of the original. Take a look at our website and you might find something interesting. We will also support Vera Vegan Val.