On food and cooking the science and lore of the kitchen ( PDFDrive ) 1165

Wheat Short Good Corn Short Moderate Potato Stringy Poor Tapioca Stringy Poor Arrowroot Stringy Good Appearance Flavor Wheat Opaque Strong Corn Opaque Strong Potato Clear Moderate Tapioca Clear Neutral Arrowroot Clear Neutral Arrowroot Arrowroot starch as it’s known in the West is refined from the roots of a West Indian plant (Maranta arundinacea) Arrowroot starch has smaller granules than potato or tapioca starches, produces a less stringy consistency, and doesn’t thin out as much on prolonged cooking Its gelation temperature is higher than the other root starches, more like the range for cornstarch A number of other plants and their starches are also called arrowroot in Asia and Australia (species of Tacca, Hutchenia, Canna) Root Starches in China In China, starch was originally extracted from millet and water chestnuts Nowadays most Chinese sauces are thickened with corn, potato, or sweet potato starch — all plants from the New World Other Asian sources of starch are yams, ginger, lotus, and the tuber of the kudzu vine (Pueraria) Modified Starches Food manufacturers have not been content with the starches available in nature, mainly because the consistency they create isn’t stable throughout the cycle of production, distribution, storage, and use by the consumer They’ve therefore engineered a variety of starches that are more stable Plant breeders have developed so-called “waxy” ... ginger, lotus, and the tuber of the kudzu vine (Pueraria) Modified Starches Food manufacturers have not been content with the starches available in nature, mainly because the consistency they create... is higher than the other root starches, more like the range for cornstarch A number of other plants and their starches are also called arrowroot in Asia and Australia (species of Tacca, Hutchenia, Canna)... consistency they create isn’t stable throughout the cycle of production, distribution, storage, and use by the consumer They’ve therefore engineered a variety of starches that are more stable Plant breeders