Aquafaba

Aquafaba from a tin of white beans

Aquafaba (/ˌɑːkwəˈfɑːbə/) is the viscous water in which legume seeds such as chickpeas have been cooked. Its use in cuisine was the discovery of the French musician Joël Roessel.

Due to its ability to mimic functional properties of egg whites in cooking, aquafaba can be used as a direct replacement for them in some cases, including meringues and marshmallows. It is especially suitable for use by people who avoid eggs, such as vegans and people with egg allergies.[1]

Etymology

The word aquafaba is from the Latin aqua (water) and faba (bean).[2]

Origins

In December 2014, the French musician Joël Roessel found that water from canned beans can form foams much like protein isolates and flax mucilage do.[3][4][5][6] Roessel shared his experiments on a blog and published recipes for floating island of Chaville, chocolate mousse, and meringue made from chickpea liquid to demonstrate its foaming capabilities.[7][8][9]

Around the same time, vegan food enthusiast Goose Wohlt discovered that the cooking liquid can replace egg white without the need for stabilizers. In March 2015 he published a recipe for egg-free meringue using only chickpea liquid and sugar.[10]

A few days later, a Facebook group was created to encourage development and popularize the egg substitute.[11][12]

Uses

Aquafaba is used as a replacement for eggs and egg white. Its composition of carbohydrates, proteins, and other soluble plant solids which have migrated from the seeds to the water during cooking gives it a wide spectrum of emulsifying, foaming, binding, gelatinizing and thickening properties.

In general one medium egg white can be replaced with 30 millilitres (2 tablespoons) of aquafaba, or one medium whole egg with 45 ml (3 tbsp).[13][14]

The simplest way to obtain aquafaba is to decant the liquid from canned or boxed legumes such as white beans or chickpeas. It also can be made by boiling, steaming, pressure cooking, or microwaving pulses in water.

Meringue kisses made from aquafaba

Sweet applications for aquafaba include meringues, macarons, nougat, icing, ice cream, fudge, and marshmallows.[15][16][17][18] Savory applications include baked goods, dairy substitutes, mayonnaise, cheese substitutes, batters, and meat substitutes.[19][20] Aquafaba is also recommended as a vegan substitute for egg white[21] in preparing cocktails with a foamy "head", particularly sour cocktails like the whiskey sour.[22]

Aquafaba contains about ten per cent of the protein of egg whites by weight.[23] The difference in protein content may enable those who cannot properly metabolize proteins (such as phenylketonurics) to consume foods which are normally egg-based. The lower protein content makes it unsuitable for applications which rely on denatured egg protein for structure, such as angel food cakes.[13]

The aquafaba most similar to egg white in its culinary characteristics appears to be from chickpeas and white beans such as the Navy bean. Other legumes, such as peas, lentils, soy, kidney, and black beans can be used, but their slightly different compositions may require more adjustment of water content to work well.[13]

Composition

Legume seeds, or pulses, are primarily composed of carbohydrates (starch, sugars, and fiber), proteins (albumins and globulins), and water.[24] The carbohydrates occur in higher concentrations than the proteins; the carbohydrates in legumes consist mostly of the polysaccharides amylose and amylopectin. A typical nutritional composition of dried chickpeas at room temperature, by weight, is listed as 19% protein, 61% carbohydrate, 6% lipids, and 14% water.[25] These amounts are approximate, and can vary by variety.[24] During the process of cooking legume seeds, soluble carbohydrates and proteins in the seed dissolve, allowing them to enter the cooking water. More soluble material will be extracted from the beans when both the cooking temperature and the pressure are increased, as well as by extending the cooking time.[26]

Whipped aquafaba

Once the legumes are cooked and filtered from the liquid, the filtered cooking liquid is referred to as "aquafaba". Comparing the final composition of cooked beans with raw ones shows that, under 'normal" cooking conditions, approximately 5% of the initial composition of the bean has been dissolved into the cooking water.[27] In 2018 the dry residue of aquafaba was found to consist mainly of carbohydrates (sugars, soluble fibre) and proteins. The ratio of carbohydrate to protein in aquafaba is approximately the same ratio as is found in the uncooked dry beans. Fat and starch, both present in the uncooked dry beans, were not detected.[6] [28][29] A concentration of 5% dry weight to water is typical for aquafaba, although the concentration can also be increased by heating the solution to allow evaporation of the water, increasing the solids concentration to 10% or more, depending on recipe requirements. This can be especially useful for applications in which emulsification and viscosity are more important characteristics than foamability. The concentration of soluble solids can also be tailored to produce a more stable foam, using less aquafaba, by scrupulously filtering non-soluble material from the solution and also by adjusting the concentration to the application at hand.[citation needed]

All else being equal, the concentration of aquafaba will vary according to:

  • processing methods (prior industrial dehydration, pre-soaking)
  • cooking conditions (pH, temperature, pressure and duration)
  • legume variety (e.g.,'Kabuli' vs 'Desi' chickpeas)
  • miscellaneous additives
  • protein concentration
  • carbohydrate type (sugar vs fibre) and concentration[30]

See also

References

  1. ^ Wohlt, Goose. "The Official Aquafaba Site". www.aquafaba.com. Retrieved March 22, 2016.
  2. ^ "aquafaba". Oxford English Dictionary (Online ed.). Oxford University Press. (Subscription or participating institution membership required.)
  3. ^ "La mousse végétale". Révolution végétale. December 4, 2014. Archived from the original on March 15, 2016. Retrieved March 22, 2016.
  4. ^ "Mousses – Isolats de protéines". Révolution végétale. December 7, 2014. Archived from the original on February 27, 2015. Retrieved March 22, 2016.
  5. ^ "Mousses – Mucilages". Révolution végétale. December 7, 2014. Archived from the original on June 25, 2015. Retrieved March 22, 2016.
  6. ^ a b Shim, Youn Young; Mustafa, Rana; Shen, Jianheng; Ratanapariyanuch, Kornsulee; Reaney, Martin J. T. (2018). "Composition and Properties of Aquafaba: Water Recovered from Commercially Canned Chickpeas". Journal of Visualized Experiments (132): e56305. doi:10.3791/56305. PMC 5912395. PMID 29553544.
  7. ^ "Île flottante végétalienne". Révolution végétale. December 7, 2014. Archived from the original on June 24, 2015. Retrieved March 22, 2016.
  8. ^ "Mousse au chocolat". Révolution végétale. December 9, 2014. Archived from the original on April 4, 2015. Retrieved March 22, 2016.
  9. ^ "Meringue végétalienne - Révolution végétale". December 4, 2014. Archived from the original on March 28, 2015. Retrieved March 22, 2016.
  10. ^ Olkan Elijah (February 22, 2015), Le Défi FUDA - BONUS #1 Mission Pois Chiches, retrieved March 22, 2016
  11. ^ wohlt, goose. "Aquafaba History". www.aquafaba.com. Archived from the original on August 29, 2018. Retrieved March 22, 2016.
  12. ^ "One solution for all egg-free baking needs". philly-archives. Archived from the original on January 9, 2016. Retrieved March 23, 2016.
  13. ^ a b c Wohlt, Goose. "Aquafaba FAQ". www.aquafaba.com. Retrieved March 22, 2016.
  14. ^ "The Best Vegan Egg Substitute For Baking". The Huffington Post. October 2015. Retrieved March 23, 2016.
  15. ^ lindajulien (May 8, 2015). "Egg-Free, Dairy-Free, Vegan Italian Meringue Buttercream". Geeky Cakes. Retrieved March 22, 2016.
  16. ^ "Vegan S'mores". olivesfordinner.com. May 24, 2015. Retrieved March 22, 2016.
  17. ^ Valle, Mary (September 29, 2015). "'Aquafaba': chickpea brine is a surprisingly egg-cellent baking substitute". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved March 23, 2016.
  18. ^ "13 Amazing things you can do with aquafaba". The Vegan Society. Retrieved March 22, 2016.
  19. ^ "16 Unbelievable Vegan Recipes You Can Make With Canned Bean Juice (Aquafaba)". PETA. June 17, 2015. Retrieved March 22, 2016.
  20. ^ "Nina's Game Changing Vegan Butter w Aquafaba". PlantePusherne. July 18, 2015. Retrieved March 22, 2016.
  21. ^ "Aquafaba: The Vegan Superfood for Effortless Weight Loss! - Health & Healthier". Health & Healthier. April 21, 2024. Retrieved April 24, 2024.
  22. ^ "How to Use Aquafaba (AKA Chickpea Brine) for Vegan "Egg White" Cocktails". Tales of the Cocktail. December 17, 2015. Archived from the original on April 3, 2016. Retrieved March 22, 2016.
  23. ^ Wohlt, Goose. "Aquafaba Nutrition". www.aquafaba.com. Retrieved March 22, 2016.
  24. ^ a b Rachwa-Rosiak, Danuta; Nebesny, Ewa; Budryn, Grażyna (January 1, 2015). "Chickpeas—composition, nutritional value, health benefits, application to bread and snacks: a review". Critical Reviews in Food Science and Nutrition. 55 (8): 1137–1145. doi:10.1080/10408398.2012.687418. ISSN 1549-7852. PMID 24915347. S2CID 31911189.
  25. ^ "Nutrition Facts and Analysis for Chickpeas (garbanzo beans, bengal gram), mature seeds, raw". SELFNutritionData. Retrieved March 23, 2016.
  26. ^ Sayar, Sedat; Turhan, Mahir; Köksel, Hamit (December 1, 2003). "Application of unreacted-core model to in situ gelatinization of chickpea starch". Journal of Food Engineering. 60 (4): 349–356. doi:10.1016/S0260-8774(03)00057-8.
  27. ^ Alajaji, Saleh A.; El-Adawy, Tarek A. (2006). "Nutritional composition of chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) as affected by microwave cooking and other traditional cooking methods" (PDF). Journal of Food Composition and Analysis. 19 (8): 806–812. doi:10.1016/j.jfca.2006.03.015. Archived from the original (PDF) on May 28, 2016.
  28. ^ Stantiall, S. E.; Dale, K. J.; Calizo, F. S.; Serventi, L. (2018). "Application of pulses cooking water as functional ingredients: the foaming and gelling abilities". European Food Research and Technology. 244 (244): 97–104. doi:10.1007/s00217-017-2943-x. S2CID 90229904.
  29. ^ "Aquafaba, what is its chemical composition?". www.friekaker.no. January 28, 2016. Retrieved March 23, 2016.
  30. ^ Youn Young Shim; Rana Mustafa; Jianheng Shen; Kornsulee Ratanapariyanuch; Martin J. T. Reaney (2018). "Composition and Properties of Aquafaba: Water Recovered from Commercially Canned Chickpeas". Journal of Visualized Experiments (132): e56305. doi:10.3791/56305. PMC 5912395. PMID 29553544.