Make Aquafaba
Aquafaba is a protein rich juice from chickpeas/garbanzo beans. These are good beans to have in quarantine. Aquafaba is a powerful egg white replacer in many vegan dishes and is a great alternative for allergies and a way to practice a zero waste lifestyle.
There are two main ways to procure aquafaba from the beans.
You can buy the beans and when you are ready to use them in a dish make sure to strain and keep the liquid in a separate container until you are ready to use it.
If you have the loose dry beans and you are ready to prepare them, soak the beans in water, making sure the bowl used is much larger than the quantity of beans used as they will expand. Soak 8 hours or overnight. Some find it useful to soak for 24 hours changing the water every 5-8 hours until white bubbles appear. Once these bubbles appear, place water and chickpeas into the pot to cook. Cook for 1 to 1 and a half hours. White fluff may appear on top of water, you can discard this, after the time has passed drain the beans and keep the cooking water, this is the final aquafaba.
Once you are ready to use in cooking, whether it is in homemade meringues or in a vegan baking recipe you will need to whisp the lique until it forms a white fluffy substance. Stiff peaks will form once the mixture is ready. To get it to this state you will need to whisk for at least 5 minutes so be prepared!
I tried this Meringue recipe and made these :
Source: A Beginner’s Guide To Aquafaba
Got to quarantine baking using leftover aquafaba from chickpeas. A delicious zero waste quarantine treat!
