This recipe for vegan parmesan apparently has no added liquid apart from melted coconut oil.
Does the agar actually melt and bind in this case?
From https://greenevi.com/vegan-parmesan-sliceable-grateable/
3/4 cup of cashews
3/4 cup of pine nuts
3 tbsp nutritional yeast
4 tbsp refined coconut oil
1 tsp agar agar powder
salt
INSTRUCTIONS
Place cashews and pine nuts in a food processor, and grind until you get a fine crumble.
Heat up coconut oil in a small pot over medium heat. Once it melted, add agar agar and cook for about 5 minutes, whisking constantly.
Add agar agar and coconut oil mixture, nutritional yeast, and a generous amount of salt to ground nuts, and pulse until incorporated.
Place cheese into a mold of your choice (I like to make one out of parchment paper, to resemble a parmesan shape), and press down lightly, if needed. Place in the fridge for at least 4 hours to let it set.
Cheese will keep for 7-10 days in the fridge. Enjoy!
Best Answer
Here is the molecular chemical structure of agar. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agar#Composition
It is a polysaccharide and like all polysaccharides will be strongly hydrophilic. To answer the question: there is no way a molecule like this will dissolve in oil. You might be able to make an emulsion but you would need an emulsifier and there is none I recognize in this recipe.
As regards the larger question of why this recipe calls for agar I do not know.