Agar Mango/Peach Coconut Jelly Cubes

 
Mango Coconut Jelly Cubes วุ้นมะม่วง (woon mamuang)

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• Author: Pailin Chongchitnant
 
• Yield: One 8-inch square pan
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MANGO LAYER

• 250 g mango flesh (for purée), roughly cubed (from about 1 ½ - 2 mangos, scant 2 cups)

• Flesh of 1 peach or mango, 1-cm cubes
• ½ cup peach syrup or orange juice
• 1 ¼ cups water
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• 2 tsp or 7 grams agar agar powder  or roughly 1/2  stick or agar agar
• Buy agar agar at vietmanese store, may need to ask cashier as they store it behind counter OR at asian stores it can be in stick form
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  Agar Conversion: 15g of agar ( strips or powder ) to 1 liter of water / liquid for a manageable form of firm agar.
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• ⅓ cup sugar
• Lime juice, to taste
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• COCONUT LAYER
• ⅔ cup water
• 1 tsp agar agar powder
• 4 Tbsp sugar
• 1/8 tsp salt
• ⅔ cup coconut milk

FOR THE MANGO LAYER:

In a blender, blend the mango cubes (for purée) and orange juice until smooth. In a small pot, add water and agar agar powder and stir to distribute the powder. Bring to a full boil, stirring frequently, making sure that all the agar agar powder has dissolved. Add sugar and mango purée and whisk until smooth. Remove from heat and taste, adding more sugar and/or lime juice as needed.

Pour the mango mixture into a mould. You can use whatever mould you like; I used a square pan, but you can also make individual ones using cups, glasses, etc. Add the 1-cm mango cubes into the mango base, distributing the cubes evenly throughout, and pushing them down to make sure they are submerged. If desired, you can add mint leaves all throughout, pushing them into the mango base. Note: Agar agar jelly sets at room temperature, so work quickly especially if you are making small ones. 

Let the jelly set until the surface is firm enough to pour on the next layer (if you touch it gently and your fingers are not poking through, it's ready). You CAN put it in the fridge to make it go faster, but do not let this set completely cold! (see note)

FOR THE COCONUT LAYER:

In a small pot, combine water and agar agar powder and stir to distribute the powder. Bring to a full boil, stirring frequently, making sure that all the agar agar powder has dissolved. Add sugar, salt, and stir until dissolved. Add coconut milk, stir to mix and remove from heat. You can use this immediately if the mango layer has set, if the mango layer has not set, keep this mixture hot, covered, over the lowest heat setting on the stove to prevent it from setting and becoming clumpy.

Once the surface of the mango layer has set, gently pour the coconut layer over the back of a spoon on to the mango base (if you pour too hard it might break or cause dents in the mango layer). Refrigerate for a few hours until cold.
When cold, cut into cubes with a sharp knife and enjoy!

Notes
A few people have reported that their coconut layer is not sticking to the mango layer and it slides off when cut. This happens because the bottom layer has set too cold, and the top layer isn't hot enough. The layers will stick when the heat from the coconut mixture dissolves a tiny bit of the surface of the mango layer. So if the bottom layer is too cold and/or the top layer isn't hot enough, they won't stick together. See my coffee agar jelly video where I talk more about this.