🧪 PRO KITCHEN · Spherification: mango "caviar" at home

Pearls that burst in your mouth like caviar, made from mango juice. Restaurants charge a fortune for this, and you can do it in your kitchen. 🥭✨

Spherification became famous in the early 2000s at elBulli, Ferran Adrià's restaurant in Spain. The idea is simple chemistry: sodium alginate (from brown seaweed) sets into a thin gel the moment it touches calcium.

🧪 Basic spherification (small "caviar")
1. Blend 250 g mango juice or purée with 1.25 g sodium alginate (0.5%). Rest it in the fridge for a few hours so the air bubbles leave.
2. Calcium bath: 5 g calcium lactate in 500 ml water (1%).
3. Drop the mango with a syringe or squeeze bottle into the bath. Leave 30-60 seconds.
4. Lift with a slotted spoon and rinse in clean water. Serve within minutes: the gel keeps setting inwards.

👨‍🍳 The chef details
• Mango is acidic (around pH 4). If the pearls will not form, add a pinch of sodium citrate to the juice.
• For bigger "ravioli" spheres, chefs use reverse spherification: calcium in the juice, alginate in the bath. They stop setting once rinsed, so they hold for service.

Serve on a panna cotta, in sparkling water, or on top of a halo-halo for a modern twist. Happy Halloween, too: lychee "eyeballs" use the same trick 👀

Would you try it at home? 👇

🛒 SPECIAL FINDS ON AMAZON
• Spherification kit: sodium alginate, calcium and syringes in one box
🇺🇸 US & worldwide: https://www.amazon.com/s?k=spherifica...
🇦🇪 UAE: https://www.amazon.ae/s?k=spherificat...
• Calcium lactate: the gentle calcium chefs prefer for the bath
🇺🇸 US & worldwide: https://www.amazon.com/s?k=calcium+la...
🇦🇪 UAE: https://www.amazon.ae/s?k=calcium+lac...
• Caviar maker: makes 50 pearls in one go
🇺🇸 US & worldwide: https://www.amazon.com/s?k=caviar+mak...
🇦🇪 UAE: https://www.amazon.ae/s?k=caviar+make...
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