For those that did not see it, this is the message I copied from another
message. It was posted by Dena.
starch thickeners Notes:
These silky powders are used to thicken sauces, gravies, pie
fillings, and puddings.
They're popular because they thicken without adding fat or much flavor.
Tips:
To avoid lumps, mix the starch with an equal amount of cold liquid
until it forms
a paste, then whisk it into the liquid you're trying to thicken. Once
the thickener
is added, cook it briefly to remove the starchy flavor. Don't
overcook--liquids
thickened with some starches will thin again if cooked too long or at
too high a
temperature.
Cornstarch, arrowroot, and tapioca are the most popular starch
thickeners. They
have different strengths and weaknesses, so it's a good idea to stock
all three in
your pantry.
Starch thickeners give food a transparent, glistening sheen, which looks
nice in
a pie filling, but a bit artificial in a gravy or sauce. If you want
high gloss,
choose tapioca or arrowroot. If you want low gloss, choose cornstarch.
Cornstarch is the best choice for thickening dairy-based sauces.
Arrowroot becomes
slimy when mixed with milk products.
Choose arrowroot if you're thickening an acidic liquid. Cornstarch
loses potency
when mixed with acids.
Sauces made with cornstarch turn spongy when they're frozen. If you
plan to freeze
a dish, use tapioca starch or arrowroot as a thickener.
Starch thickeners don't add much flavor to a dish, although they can
impart a starchy
flavor if they're undercooked. If you worried that your thickener
will mask delicate
flavors in your dish, choose arrowroot. It's the most neutral tasting
of the starch
thickeners.
Tapioca starch thickens quickly, and at a relatively low temperature.
It's a good
choice if you want to correct a sauce just before serving it.
Substitutes:
roux (Higher in fat, but best for gravies, stews, and gumbos.) OR
instant flour (Use
twice as much. Flour turns sauces opaque, imparts a starchy flavor,
thins out if
cooked too long, and breaks down if frozen and thawed.) OR potato
(Adding grated
potato to soups or stews will thicken them.) OR nut flours (These have
a more pronounced
flavor.)
Varieties:
arrowroot starch = arrowroot powder = arrowroot = arrowroot flour
This starch thickener has several advantages over cornstarch. It has
a more neutral
flavor, so it's a good thickener for delicately flavored sauces. It
also works at
a lower temperature, and tolerates acidic ingredients and prolonged
cooking better.
And while sauces thickened with cornstarch turn into a spongy mess if
they're frozen,
those made with arrowroot can be frozen and thawed with impunity. The
downside
is that arrowroot is pricier than cornstarch, and it's not a good
thickener for dairy-based
sauces, since it turns them slimy.
Arrowroot also imparts a shiny gloss to foods, and while it can make a
dessert sauce
glow spectacularly, it can make a meat sauce look eerie and fake. To
thicken with
arrowroot, mix it with an equal amount of cold water, then whisk the
slurry into
a hot liquid for about 30 seconds. Look for it in Asian markets and
health food
stores.
Equivalents: One tablespoon thickens one cup of liquid. Substitutes:
tapioca starch
(very similar) OR Instant ClearJel® OR cornstarch
(Cornstarch doesn't impart as glossy a finish and can leave a starchy
taste if undercooked.)
OR
kudzu powder OR potato starch OR rice starch OR flour
(Flour makes an opaque sauce, imparts a floury taste, and can easily
turn lumpy.
Use twice as much flour as arrowroot.)
ClearJel® = ClearJel® starch = Clear-jel Notes:
This modified cornstarch is the secret ingredient that many
commercial bakers
use in their fruit pie fillings. Unlike ordinary cornstarch,
ClearJel® works well
with acidic ingredients, tolerates high temperatures, and doesn't
cause pie fillings
to "weep" during storage. ClearJel® is an especially good choice if
you're canning
homemade pie fillings, since it doesn't begin thickening until the
liquid begins
to cool. This allows the heat the be more evenly distributed within
the jar during
processing. This is such an important safety advantage that ClearJel®
is the only
thickener the USDA recommends for home canning. You can also use
ClearJel® to thicken
sauces, stews, and the like, though it's a rather expensive
all-purpose thickener.
One downside is that products thickened with ClearJel® tend to break
down if they're
frozen and thawed. If you plan to freeze what you're making, use
Instant ClearJel®,
arrowroot, or tapioca starch. ClearJel® is available either as
pearls or powder
from mail-order suppliers, but it's not yet available in grocery stores.
Substitutes:
Instant ClearJel® (Don't use this if you're canning a pie filling.) OR
tapioca starch
OR arrowroot starch OR cornstarch
cornflour
cornstarch
= corn starch = cornflour = crème de mais = maize cornflour Equivalents:
One tablespoon (1/4 ounce) thickens one cup of liquid.
Notes:
This silky powder is used to thicken sauces, gravies, and puddings.
Like other
starch thickeners, cornstarch should be mixed into a slurry with an
equal amount
of cold water before it's added to the hot liquid you're trying to
thicken. You
then need to simmer the liquid, stirring constantly, for a minute or so
until it
thickens. Cornstarch doesn't stand up to freezing or prolonged
cooking, and it
doesn't thicken well when mixed with acidic liquids. Cornstarch is
called cornflour
or maize cornflour in Britain, Australia, and New Zealand. Don't
confuse cornstarch
with the finely ground cornmeal that Americans call corn flour.
Substitutes:
arrowroot (This tolerates freezing and prolonged cooking better, and
imparts a glossier
finish.) OR ClearJel® (especially for pie fillings) OR tapioca starch
(dissolves
more easily) OR potato starch (This is permitted during Passover.) OR
kuzu OR flour
OR water chestnut starch (especially in Asian cuisines) OR unsweetened
almond powder
(imparts a nutty taste, especially good in Chinese sweet-and-sour dishes)
crème de mais
Instant Clearjel® Notes:
This is a modified cornstarch that professional bakers sometimes use
to thicken
pie fillings. It has several advantages over ordinary cornstarch.
Instant ClearJel®
thickens without cooking, works well with acidic ingredients,
tolerates high temperatures,
is freezer-stable, and doesn't cause pie fillings to "weep" during
storage. Don't
use Instant ClearJel® for canning--it tends to break down.
Substitutes:
ClearJel® (not freezer-stable) OR tapioca starch OR arrowroot starch
OR cornstarch
instant tapioca = quick-cooking tapioca = quick tapioca = granulated
tapioca = tapioca
granules = instant pearl tapioca
Notes:
These small, starchy granules are used to make tapioca pudding and
to thicken pie
fillings. The grains don't dissolve completely when cooked, so
puddings and pies
thickened with them end up studded with tiny gelatinous balls. If you
don't mind
the balls, you can also use instant tapioca to thicken soups, gravies,
and stews.
If the balls are a problem, just pulverize the instant tapioca in a
coffee grinder
or blender, or buy tapioca starch, which is already finely ground.
Instant tapioca
tolerates prolonged cooking and freezing, and gives the fillings an
attractive glossy
sheen. To use it in a pie filling, mix it with the other ingredients,
then let
it sit for at least five minutes so that the tapioca can absorb some
of the liquid.
Don't confuse instant tapioca with regular tapioca, which has larger
beads, or with
the even larger tapioca pearls sold in Asian markets.
Minute® tapioca is a well-known brand. Substitutes:
regular tapioca (Use twice as much. Puddings made with this will
have larger gelatinous
balls in it.) OR tapioca starch (This is also used to thicken pie
fillings.) OR tapioca
pearls (Pulverize these first with a blender, coffee grinder, or food
processor)
OR cornstarch (Use half as much. Cornstarch breaks down if it's mixed
with acidic
ingredients, cooked for a long time, or frozen and thawed.) OR
arrowroot (more expensive)
OR flour (Use a little more.)
glutinous rice flour
katakuriko
kudzu powder = kuzu powder Pronunciation: KOOD-zoo Equivalents:
Use 3 tablespoons of kudzu powder to thicken 2 cups of liquid.
Notes:
This thickener is made from the tuber of the kudzu, the obnoxious
vine that was
imported from Japan a number of years ago and is now growing out of
control all over
the South. It's very expensive, and the main reason to buy it is for
its reputed
medicinal benefits. It comes in small chunks. To thicken a liquid,
crush the chunks
into a powder, mix them with an equal amount of cold water, then stir
the mixture
into the hot liquid and simmer for a few minutes until the sauce is
thickened. Look
for kudzu in health food stores.
Substitutes: arrowroot powder OR cornstarch
lotus root flour Notes: This is gluten-free.
maize cornflour
mochiko
naw may fun
potato flour
potato starch = potato flour = potato starch flour = katakuriko Notes:
This gluten-free starch is used to thicken soups and gravies. Its
main advantage
over other starch thickeners is that it's a permitted ingredient for
Passover, unlike
cornstarch and other grain-based foods. Liquids thickened with potato
starch should
never be boiled. Supermarkets often stock it among the Kosher products.
Substitutes:
cornstarch (This is very similar, but not permitted for Passover.) OR
arrowroot OR
tapioca starch OR ground Passover matzo (This is also permitted for
Passover.)
regular tapioca = small pearl tapioca Notes:
These are small beads of tapioca that are used to make tapioca
pudding. The beads
don't dissolve completely, so they end up as small, squishy,
gelatinous balls that
are suspended in the pudding. Don't confuse this with instant tapioca,
which is
granulated and often used to thicken fruit pie fillings, or with pearl
tapioca, which
has much larger balls.
Substitutes:
instant tapioca (Tapioca pudding made with this will end have smaller
gelatinous
balls. Use half as much.)
sago starch = sago = pearl sage Pronunciation: SAY-go Notes:
This flour is made from the inner pulp of the sago palm. It's
often used to make
pudding, but it can also serve as an all-purpose thickener. Look for
it in Asian
markets.
Substitutes: tapioca pearls
sahlab Notes:
This is made from orchid tubers and has a pleasant, flowery smell.
Look for it in
Middle Eastern markets.
Substitutes:
cornstarch (Substitute measure for measure.)
sorghum starch Substitutes: cornstarch
soy starch
sweet potato starch Notes: Asian cooks like to dredge pork in this
before frying
it.
sweet rice flour = mochiko = glutinous rice flour = glutinous rice
powder = sweet
glutinous rice flour = mochi flour = naw may fun
Notes:
This thickener has the virtue of remaining stable when frozen. It's
often used to
make Asian desserts. Don't confuse sweet rice flour with ordinary
rice flour
. Look for it in Asian markets. Substitutes:
tapioca starch (This also doesn't separate when frozen)
tapioca flour
tapioca pearls = pearl tapioca = large pearl tapioca = fish eye
tapioca = tapioca
balls = sa khu met lek
Notes:
These round pellets are made from cassava roots. Asians use them to
make puddings
and a beverage called bubble tea. You can also use them to make
tapioca pudding,
though it's faster and easier to use instant or regular tapioca. The
pearls are
normally soaked for at least a few hours before they're added to a recipe.
Substitutes:
sago starch OR instant tapioca OR tapioca starch
tapioca starch = tapioca flour = cassava flour = yucca starch = almidon
de yuca
Notes:
Tapioca is a good choice for thickening pie fillings, since it
thickens at a lower
temperature than cornstarch, remains stable when frozen, and imparts a
glossy sheen.
Many pie recipes call for instant tapioca instead of tapioca starch, but
instant
tapioca doesn't dissolve completely and leaves small gelatinous blobs
suspended in
the liquid. This isn't a problem in a two-crust pies, but the blobs
are more noticeable
in single-crust pies. Tapioca starch is finely ground so that it
dissolves completely,
eliminating the gelatinous blob problem. The starch is also sometimes
used to thicken
soups, stews, and sauces, but the glossy finish looks a bit unnatural
in these kinds
of dishes. It works quickly, though, so it's a good choice if you
want to correct
a sauce just before serving it. Some recipes for baked goods also
call for tapioca
flour because it imparts a chewier texture.
Substitutes:
instant tapioca (Also good for thickening pie fillings. If you like,
pulverize the
beads in a blender before using.) OR Instant ClearJel® OR sweet rice
flour (also
remains stable when frozen) OR cornstarch (doesn't dissolve as easily,
separates
if frozen) OR arrowroot (separates if frozen) OR potato starch
(separates if frozen)
OR rice starch (separates if frozen) OR instant flour (use twice as
much; sauce will
be opaque, not clear; separates if frozen)
water chestnut flour = water chestnut powder = water chestnut starch Notes:
Asian cooks often dredge foods in this before frying them, because
it gives fried
foods a crisp, nutty coating. It can also be used as a thickener.
Look for it in
Asian markets and health food stores. Don't confuse this with chestnut
flour.
Substitutes: cornstarch
water chestnut powder
Copyright © 1996-2005 Lori Alden
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