How to make balsamic pearls (aka balsamic caviar) at home with just 3 ingredients, a tall glass, and a pipette (or syringe)! Perfect for garnishing all kinds of dishes!
Fill a tall freezer-friendly glass with olive oil ad place it in the freezer for about 30 minutes. Don’t freeze it for too long or the oil will solidify – but it needs to be cold enough that the balsamic vinegar will transform into pearls before reaching the bottom of the glass.
When the oil is almost ready, add the balsamic vinegar and agar to a pot, stirring well. Bring the mixture to a boil over medium heat stirring to make sure the agar-agar is fully dissolved within the vinegar.
Once the mixture boils then remove it from the heat and allow it to cool for a few minutes.
Remove the oil from the freezer and fill your pipette/syringe with the balsamic mixture. With steady pressure, slowly drop droplets of the vinegar into the cold olive oil and you should see it turn to pearls in front of your eyes.Continue to do this until you’ve used all your balsamic. Don’t worry about making some larger than others – this is normal. If you’re wanting perfectly even results, then you can always carefully sort them later.
Once you’ve used all the vinegar, drain then from the olive oil. I do this by pouring the oil through a sieve into another clean container. Alternatively, you can use a small, slotted teaspoon.
You can then transfer them to a small container of water to ‘rinse’ them before using them – or leave the oil on them, after all, oil and vinegar are wonderful accompaniments for all kinds of appetizers and salads. If they’re clumped up in the water, don’t worry, just give them a little stir and they should come apart without bursting.
How to Store
Once prepared, transfer the balsamic pearls to a clean container and they should store fine in the refrigerator for up to a week (possibly up to 2 weeks). I tend to use them immediately, so I don’t know an exact shelf-life.
Notes
If the droplets don’t form or are deformed when dropping into the oil you’ve hit one of three problems: 1) the agar wasn’t fully dissolved in the vinegar, 2) & 3) either the balsamic wasn’t allowed to cool down enough or the oil wasn’t cold enough. Either of these being off means that the pearls don’t have time to form and set before the vinegar hits the bottom of the glass.
The oil: you could use vegetable oil instead of olive oil.
If you plan on doing a large batch of pearls, rest the container of oil within an ice bath, to keep it cool.
What do they taste like? The balsamic pearls will, no surprises here, taste like balsamic vinegar. The agar doesn’t really affect the flavor at all. It’s basically just the vinegar in jelly form.
Agar-agar is available to purchase in some health food stores, Asian stores, and online! It is a good vegan replacement for gelatin and is derived from seaweed.