Starch, Starch, Starch

There are a number of starches you can use for cooking:

A. Grain Starches are great thickeners. They gelatinize at higher temp. They do tend to leave a taste and a hazier look. You may add these even at the beginning of cooking.

1. Wheat Flour
2. Corn Starch

B. Root or Tube Starches quickly thicken sauces and baked products. They are clear thickeners and have almost no after taste, except for Tapioca which gives a hint of sweetness. It is recommended to add them at the end of cooking as they don't stand well under prolonged heat. For baking purposes, these starches are more recommended, being neutral in taste.

1. Arrowroot Starch (extracted from rootstocks of tropical plants) normally Maranta arundinacea, Other kinds are Florida arrowroot (Zamia integrifolia), Japanese arrowroot (Pueraria lobata) called kuzu
2. Tapioca Starch (extracted from cassava root)
3. Potato Starch

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