Several Types Of Starch

Starch is known commonly by people as a kind of edible material. It is white and odorless powder derived from corn, potato and cassava etc. Starch is directly edible and can also be accessories of wine and cooking for irreplaceable effect. There we will have a brief introduction of several main types of starch. 

 

Corn Starch

Corn starch ,also called corn powder or raw starch, and soybean starch in some places(this is indeed quite rare), is starch refined from corn. Corn starch takes a great percentage in starch supply. However, the properties of corn starch is not as good as that of starch from potatoes. The so-called raw starch in Hongkong mainly refers to corn starch.

 

Potato Starch

Potato starch is manufactured with potatoes as the raw materials. it enjoys a great popularity in household use as thickening starch for it stable properties. Potato starch has characteristics of being sticky, fine texture and pure white color and comparably poor water absorption. It will condense into transparent sticky semisolid when heated with water. In Chinese cooking(especially Taiwan cuisine), potato starch is usually mixed thoroughly with water and added to other cooked dishes as thickening starch; it will make soup look thick, transparent and shiny. People tend to use corn starch when making pastry because soup thickened by potato starch will easily turn dilute when it cools down; however, soup with corn starch does not change that much when temperature decreases. Besides, it should be noted that potato starch cannot be mixed directly with boiling water or other hot food for it will immediately clot into blocks or chunks.

 

Sweet Potato Starch

Sweet potato starch is characterized by it’s large water absorbing capacity; however, the viscosity of sweet potato starch is comparably poor and it also lacks shiny and attractive color. Sweet potato starch is often seen as pellets, coarse pellets or fine pellets and people prefer coarse pellets in family use. Similar to potato starch, sweet potato starch will also become sticky semisolid when mixed and heated with water.

 

 

Cassava Starch

Cassava starch, also Thailand starch for Thailand is one of the largest supplier country in the world, second only to Nigeria and Brazil. Cassava starch enjoys a great popularity in Taiwan; the import of cassava starch from southeast Asia to Taiwan also rapidly increased these years. Cassava starch turns transparent while heated with water and has the special texture of elasticity.