Chinese New Year is all about auspicious symbols, especially when it comes to food you eat and the gifts you present to friends and family. After making so many types of cookies like Pineapple Tarts, Almond Cookies, Butter Cookies, Cornflake Cookies..... I also made Koi fish from agar agar powder.
Koi fish symbolize surpluses ~ ~"年年有余“ (nian nian you yu) means having more enough for the coming year.
Koi fishes appear to be extremely lively and their cheerful posture along with their slanting tail brings in bundles of money and good luck.
Ingredients:
650ml Water
100g Sugar
8g Agar agar powder
2 Pandan leaves
2 Fish molds (bought from Sunlik)
12 Black currants or raisins
- Using scissors to cut black currants into half and roll into tiny nibs with your finger tips as fish eyes. Tie pandan leaves into a small knot.
- Boil water, sugar, agar agar powder and pandan leaves together, keep stirring water until boil at medium heat. Off heat and stir agar agar liquid for another 2-3 minutes. Discard pandan leaves.
- Put agar agar liquid under double boiler or at low heat to prevent agar agar liquid set quickly. ~ stir occasionally.
- Using a tweezers and dip black currant into agar agar liquid then place black currant on the fish mold eyes. It will sticks quickly.
- Take 2 tsp of agar agar liquid into a sauce plate and add a drop of coloring into it (any color you prefer) and mix well. (I used 3 colors ~ red, orange and green)
- Using the back of the teaspoon，smear the colored liquid quickly on fish mold body ~ mix any color you like. (if the colored liquid has set, add a little hot agar agar liquid to dilute it),
- After the colored liquid set on the fish mold, gently pour in plain agar agar liquid (cool down a little if liquid is too hot).
- Chill agar agar Koi fish in fridge for at least 2-3 hours or overnight before removing from the fish mold.
Do you like it?
Wishing all my Friends and Readers who are celebrating a very Happy Lunar New Year. May the year of Rabbit bring you good health and success :))
祝大家新年快乐 万事如意 兔年好运来！
I am taking a short break from blogging and will return after the holidays. Hope everyone have a wonderful Lunar New Year holidays :))
oh my! i love this ann!! too beautiful for words! i want i want!!
ReplyDeletewow, this is amazing dear..I love it so so so much... ^^
ReplyDeleteHappy Lunar New Year to you and your family too..:)
I think your koi fish are beautiful! You are so talented. I think it's funny how you use your tweezers to place the eyes. I have several tweezers around for such delicate work. I use them in my jewelry and card making. With treats like this I guess it is an art form!
ReplyDeleteHave fun with your family, wishing you the best holiday! See you when you get back!
Anncoo, you never fail to amaze me with your artistic creativity with food. These little koi fish are stunning. I absolutely love visiting your blog.
ReplyDeleteHappy New Year!
Velva
the koi fish looks really colourful and nice! i also got my set of moulds, planning to do agar-agar... Good idea to use raisins for the eyes.. When i did my hello kitty agar agar, i use chocolate to fill the eyes and whiskers after it was set and unmould...
ReplyDeleteVelva says it all. You are amazing...theses= look so good and will of course bring good things!
ReplyDeletei love how colorful and vibrant the gold fish are! And I'm sure they are just as delicious!! I wish I could get agar agar powder but I don't think there is such here in the US. But thanks for sharing this beautiful piece! Happy Lunar New Year to you and your family! May your family be healthy and prosperious!
ReplyDeleteAnn,where can i buy the fish mould in Sgp? i hv seen the very big fish mould but not the 6 small ones in one mould.
ReplyDeletehave a blessed CNY :) Ruth
So beautiful and colorful.
ReplyDeleteAnn, the Koi are so beautiful! Happy CNY to you and family.
ReplyDeleteAnn, these koi fishes are so beautiful, I like the color combination ^_^
ReplyDeleteWishing you and your family Happy Lunar New Year!
Wow wow wow!! These agar2 fishes are so so special! I love how you do it..love the colours. Your're so creative Anncoo:)
ReplyDeletecute!! Happy Chinese New Year Anncoo
ReplyDeleteThese are the prettiest edible koi I've seen! You are so creative with the coloring :) Gong Xi Fa Cai!
ReplyDeleteann, i dont like it. i LOVE it to the max!! (: (: is so beautiful and definitely lively! (: happy new year to you and your family (:
ReplyDeleteSo so pretty!!! Happy Lunar New Year to you and all at home! Gong xi fa cai!
ReplyDeleteSo beautiful. I wish you all the luck and money you can get from having this elegant dessert.
ReplyDeleteThese are so pretty!
ReplyDeleteOh gosh Ann, I don't just like it, Iove it! So pretty & lively! Wish I had bought the koi fish mould too. :P thanks for sharing this, sure puts a smile on my face!
ReplyDeleteI have been visiting your blog and you are a fantastic cook!I love those fishes. It is a work of art!Here is wishing you a great holiday an hope to hear from you after the holidays...... Have an abundant rabbit year
ReplyDeleteChris
Ann, the koi fishes are so beautiful!!!
ReplyDeleteThese are too gorgeous to be eaten!
ReplyDeleteI loveeeeeeee it....so beautiful. BTW where u get the mould?
ReplyDeletethanks
serena
I loveeeeeeee it....so beautiful. BTW where u get the mould?
ReplyDeletethanks
serena
Do I like this? No I don't, I absolutely LOVE this!!! These are so beautiful Ann! Thank you for the step by step pictures and method of how you did this. You are so creative and talented. Wishing you a Happy Chinese New Year, my friend!
ReplyDeleteThe fishes are so lively and beautiful. I can't bear to eat them.
ReplyDeleteU are awesome!
Love the colours, so bright and beautiful! Wish you Happy CNY in advance! :)
ReplyDeleteOMG... That school of fish is a way way way beautiful, really love it Ann. It's a work of art ^^
ReplyDeletemy dear, these are the prettiest koi fishes ever! LOVE!
ReplyDeleteThese are so so so so pretty. Oh, just can't emphasize enough how pretty they are. You are a talent!
ReplyDelete美呆了,真的很漂亮,新年快乐:)
ReplyDeletewow! that`s so cute!
ReplyDeletehave a great time,
Paula
Wow...these are really beautiful! Ann, I want all. I need lots of money and lots of luck...haha. Hope you have a great time this festive season.
ReplyDeleteThey are so lovely! Happy CNY to you!
ReplyDeleteGong Xi FA Cai! These koi are super cute!
ReplyDeleteWow they are so vibrant n colourful... You never fail to impress me with your food!!
ReplyDeleteOMG I LOVE IT! I would so want to make it! They're absolutely gorgeous! WOW. So creative and I love the colours!
ReplyDeletewow! they are amazing!!! Thanks for sharing this!
ReplyDeleteHappy Lunar New Year!
Your koi fish look so beautiful and alive! GONG XI FA CAI, WAN XI RU YI.
ReplyDeleteAlice
Ann, so nice la! I think it's not an easy job to get this done, the fishes are so lively:) Wish you and your family Happy New Year! Enjoy the festival :)
ReplyDeleteAnn you freaking rock -- only you could come up with something so delicate beautiful AND edible! After seeing these it made me miss my mom. Happy Lunar New Year -- Gong Xi Fa Cai!
ReplyDeleteoh wow! these are so artistically done! Reminds me of those glass artworks from 琉璃工坊. I'm so impressed!!! Well done Ann!
ReplyDeleteOMG!!! This is so beautiful :) thanks for sharing the steps in details. Can't wait to try them out too :)
ReplyDeleteCoincidentally I made some fish jelly too but I used konnyaku jelly instead of agar agar. I have a different fish mould though and I like yours better.
ReplyDeleteThank you everyone for your awesome compliments. Happy Lunar New Year :))
ReplyDelete@Lyndsey
ReplyDeleteThank you! I have another set of tweezers for my handicraft too. The tweezers in my kitchen are usually for my cakes decoration, really useful :))
@love melody, love baking
ReplyDeleteI must take a look at how you add the eyes and whisker after the agar agar is set.
@Anonymous
ReplyDeleteI bought the molds at Sunlik at $3 per piece.
@chris
ReplyDeleteThank you very much Chris for visiting. Happy Lunar New Year to you too :))
@MaryMoh
ReplyDeleteMary, I'm sure good luck will comes to you on the first day of CNY ;D
@Min
ReplyDeleteMin, this is super easy...just anyhow add the colors and you will get a beautiful koi fish :)
wowow those fishes are really beautiful! good job! :P
ReplyDelete@Joy
ReplyDeleteJoy, thank you! Make sure you call your mom on the new year's eve and please send my regards to your mom too. 恭喜发财！
@travellingfoodies
ReplyDeleteYes, I was telling my husband yesterday that the koi fish looks like 琉璃! Thank you for your lovely comment.
@Cuisine Paradise
ReplyDeleteThank you very much for visiting :)
@Blessed Homemaker
ReplyDeletehahaa...I also have those bigger fish molds in many sizes.
I'm sure your fish jelly looks very beautiful too :)
Hi there....was amazed by your creativity.
ReplyDeleteEverytime you post something with agar-agar powder and using moulds, I always remember the moulds that you sent me. I haven't made anything with those cute moulds yet.
ReplyDeleteThis is just stunning! Amazing colors and arrangement you made! Simply delightful to behold. With all the beautiful things you did confirms a truly auspicious new year for you and loved ones! Happy New Year!!!
ReplyDeleteI love these koi fish alot! I saw the mould but not sure what to do with them. haha... Maybe I should get one next time. These are beautiful. Thanks so much for sharing. I'm sure you're enjoying your day with your family & friends from afar right now.
ReplyDeleteCheers, Kristy
wow one of the prettiest foods I have ever seen wow
ReplyDeleteHappy New year lovely Ann
Rebecca
This is so awesome... They turned out so beautifully too.. Happy New Year
ReplyDeleteWow! These are amazing!
ReplyDeleteThose look great! We'd love for you to share your recipe and images at dishfolio.com!
ReplyDeletePerfect, juz like a piece of art. :)
ReplyDeleteAnn, these are absolutely gorgeous little jewels of agar-agar. I'm now so tempted to go to Sunlik on Monday to get these molds. Thanks for the tutorial as well. Happy CNY to you and your family.
ReplyDeleteBeautiful fish! You have made them look very lively with the colouring! I bought my mum these moulds online - must look out for agar-agar powder in chinese shops so I can get her to make jellies!
ReplyDeleteMay the Rabbit Year bring you peace, wealth and happiness!
OMG these are so pretty!
ReplyDeleteThese are just amazing and magical, and I can't believe they're edible!
ReplyDeleteLove the technique to make those beautiful koi fish! You are so inspiring Ann :)
ReplyDeleteJust awesome, Ann. I prefer this to those with santan, very filling.
ReplyDeleteGong Xi Fa Cai to you and your family!
My first visit to your blog.
ReplyDeleteLooove your agar agar koi - I think they look fantastic!
Stunning - absolutely STUNNING !
ReplyDeleteHow could anyone eat these ? They're too pretty !
Wow! This is very impressive. :)
ReplyDelete好厉害哦！我看到那鱼好像会游的咧！
ReplyDelete祝你新年快乐~~
OMG
ReplyDeleteWhere do you get the mold, it's super cute.
o man...do I like it? wow...I am speechless. You are an artist. They look almost unreal...you know, too good to be true.
ReplyDeletePepy ~ you must do something with the molds :)
ReplyDeleteMichelangelo ~ Thank you for your lovely comment.
Kristy ~ Happy Lunar New Year to you and your family too :)
Thanks Recbecca :)
Polwig ~ Thank you very much for visiting.
Jean, Lacey, CaThY ~ Thanks!
Jo ~ You can make this koi fish for friends and relative, am sure they'll love it :)
李叶 ~ your mum love to make jelly? Please post up, OK? 恭喜发财！
Ann, Mirabella, Lia, Cheah,
Thank you very much for your compliments. Happy Lunar New Year to all of you :)
Kavey ~ Thank you!
温馨小屋 ~ 真的很像哦。
我也祝你心想事成，身体健康！
Pook, the mold is available in Singapore.
Angie, hehee...thanks! I'm flattered by your compliment *.*
gong xi fa cai
ReplyDeletethese fishes are adorable. I have plans to make some and hope they will be turn out half as pretty as yours.
Wow! I am so impressed! You fishes look so awesome good! Too pretty to be eaten! Happy CNY to you and family too Ann:D
ReplyDeleteThese are prettiest thing I have ever seen. Great job!
ReplyDeleteI should think fast of what to do for Chinese New Year.
Gung Hay Fat Choy!
ann, these are so beautiful, so colourful and so cute! everyone would go crazy looking at these edible fishes!
ReplyDeleteCool recipe! I bet they're delicious and they look absolutely gorgeous!
ReplyDeleteHi, Anncoo!
ReplyDeleteThanks for your visit.
Beautiful fish!
Aw, they look jade, very beautiful!
ReplyDeleteLove them very much. You're so lucky and can get so many pretty molds. And your cooking is like an art too.
Happy New Year to you, Ann!
祝你年年有餘！ :)
OMG I could not find any words to appreciate u .They look fantastic and I love your blog very much.Keep rocking
ReplyDeleteamazing! they look realistic and pretty with the glassy look and the blackcurrant eyes. love them. happy cny!!
ReplyDeleteAnn, these are so adorable! I love what they mean. Happy Chinese New Year :) Thank you for participating in this months YBR!
ReplyDeleteThis is so cool...I love, love your photos..what a fun little creations!
ReplyDeletePure talent!!!
Your koi fish are so pretty! I love the colors you used, it makes them look so real. I've been wanting to make this as I've seen it before, but I haven't been able to find the mold.
ReplyDeleteI love these fish. Happy New Year to you.
ReplyDeleteThese are absolutely amazing and gorgeous :)
ReplyDeleteHow cute these fishes, Anncoo! Gorgeous colors! But what I really enjoyed those marble cookies! I just can't wait to try that recipe!
ReplyDeleteSorry for the delay of reply. Those cutie works (popsicle, baby and bears) are made from felts. I'm in love with them!
Xoxo
These are amazing.
ReplyDeleteEnjoy your holiday. La
Lovely! :)
ReplyDeleteHappy CNY to you! Lovely koi fish!
ReplyDeleteWhat a lovely koi fish jelly. You are so good at doing this. Gong Xi Fa Cai to you and your family!!!
ReplyDeleteAnncoo, this little koi fish look so pretty...I don't think I'd be able to eat them...too cute. Happy New Year!
ReplyDeleteAnn, 祝你及家人恭喜发财，新年快乐，万事如意。
ReplyDeleteAnn, these are so pretty and lively. Great to have it on Lunar New Year.
ReplyDeleteXin Nian Kuai Le.
Anncoo, this is positively brilliant!
ReplyDeleteoh my god!!! these are so beautiful? do you eat them? they look too beautiful to eat :) just dropping by to wish you a very happy new year!!!
ReplyDeleteOMG..I wouldn't eat them...rather I would look at them for as many hours possible..lol..They look so so pretty Ann :-)
ReplyDeleteHappy New year to you and yours !!
These are too adorable!!!!
ReplyDeleteAnn, Gong Xi Fa Cai! Wishing you and your family a Happy and Prosperous New Year!
Gong Xi Fa Cai, Ann!!! Here's to the best in the Year of the Rabbit for you and your loved ones!! :)
ReplyDeletexoxo,
David, Celine, Erica & Arianna
This is simply gorgeous! Thanks for sharing and showing us the step-by-step, will bookmark this!
ReplyDeleteHappy lunar new year to u and your family!
love your colorful Koi fish jello!! Gong Xi Fa Cai to you and your family!!
ReplyDeleteThese are beautiful and lovely! So perfect for CNY! :) Happy Chinese New Year to you too!
ReplyDeleteAnncoo,
ReplyDeleteWishing you and family a wonderful bunny year!
I always make sure I visit your blog around this time of the year. You always amazing stuff for Chinese New Year's!
ReplyDeleteOh lalalalalala!!!
ReplyDeletethese are really beautiful!!!!!!!
happy happy new year to you dear Ancoo!
OMG, I have been selling these molds on ebay and one of the buyers contacted me today regarding your blog. I almost cried! The fishes are so so so beautiful!!! I can't believe it! I will be a huge fan of your blog from now on.
ReplyDeleteLOVE IT!!!
ReplyDeleteI love your Koi fish! So vivid, festive and yummy too! Enjoy your holiday!
ReplyDeleteGirl I'm crafty, I sketch, paint, decorate a cake but your artistic ability with food just blows me away. These fish are just exceptional. Happy New year to you and may it be most prosperous!
ReplyDeleteGod bless and have a fantastic weekend sweeite!!!
Wishing you a great holiday and these fishies are exquisite!
ReplyDeleteThese are absolutely amazing!!! Thanks for linking up to Tailgating Time - and sorry I'm so late visiting once again. I'm going to start calling myself the weekend only blogger pretty soon ::sigh:: Anyway, hope you'll be playing along on our final Tailgating Time tomorrow. Bring over your old and new best recipes, no limit to the links you add. Oh and I'll be posting a link to the code for the big Super Bowl party. Hope you'll add the code to your blog too!
ReplyDeleteWishing you a happy, healthy and prosperous New Year! :-)
Happy New Year to you dear! Oh these are just the most adorable fish I've seen, ever. I want to experiment with agar agar decorating now :)
ReplyDeleteGong XI Fa Cai, Anncoo! Wow, your koi jelly are so beautiful!! I'm sure if I drop one of these jelyy into my koi pond, my fishes will think they have a new friend. You have very good skills! Bravo!!
ReplyDeleteHappy New year to you!! I cannot believe you made these yourself! They look absolutely gorgeous and perfect!
ReplyDeleteThank you Friends for leaving your awesome compliments that really made me smile :)) Hope that this Rabbit year will brings lots of good luck to all of you.
ReplyDelete祝新年快乐!!
hi Ann, just to let you know i bought this fish mould at Kitchen Capers for $2.50 which is much cheaper than other shop. There are many variety of moulds there, some even at $1.50.
ReplyDeleteMay
@Anonymous
ReplyDeleteMay, thanks for informing me. I know Kitchen capers also sells the hello kitty mold cheaper than other shop, will sure to go there soon. I saw a rabbit mold at PH yesterday at 53 cts but didn't buy because CNY is almost over...sigh...already got so many molds in my store room...still cannot stop buying ;DD
Hi Ann, Thanks for sharing such a beautiful koi fish recipe..I made these during CNY and all my friends and relatives love it so much but of course mine are not as pretty as yours....
ReplyDeleteWishing you and your family a very happy and prosperous Year of Rabbit!
Karen
@Anonymous
ReplyDeleteHi Karen, So glad to hear that you made this Koi fishes. I am sure your Koi fishes look perfect at your 2nd attempt :))
Happy Chinese New Year to you too!
WAW ! AMAZING !SO BEAUTIFUL!!!
ReplyDeleteBeautiful piece of work. I am going to try this in the coming CNY.
ReplyDeleteCute! How can someone have a heart to eat those lovely fishes D:
ReplyDeleteI tired the recipe but my agar did not set and the colors/eyes ran together. Is there something I can do to stop that from happening?
ReplyDeleteOoh...sorry to hear that :(
DeleteMany readers had tried this and their feedback are good.
Perhaps after sticking the eyes to the mould, try to add a little more plain agar agar liquid on it and when pouring the warm liquid into the mould, pour it at the lower part of the fish mould so that the fish eyes will not melt easily.
I don't understand why your agar agar did not set. You can add another 1g of agar agar powder to it and stirring the liquid for a couple of minutes more after boiled.
Hope these help :)
Absolutely amazing!!! My mum has made something similar but with coffee flavoured agar agar so not as colourful and pretty as your kois. I have her recipe sitting in my draw for 2 years, you have now inspired me ;-)
ReplyDeleteHi, Really hope you'll try my recipe one day :)
DeleteHi,
ReplyDeleteThank your for sharing your beautiful recipe. Using tweezers to stick blackcurrant on the eye part of the mold is genius! We've shared it in our website: www.jewelpie.com.
Looking forward to more simple and beautiful recipe from your site. Happy Chinese New Year to you!
Hi Sarah, Thank you for linking your post to me. Your koi fishes look very pretty.
DeleteHappy Chinese New Year to you too!