Edible starch usually includes potato powder, sweet potato powder, horseshoe powder, diamond powder and so on. The quality of starch can be identified by seeing, smelling and twisting.
Look. High-quality starch, white and glossy, no impurities; secondary starch, yellow or grayish white, with impurities.
Smell it. In addition to the smell of raw materials, there should be no other peculiar smell.
Twist. This is the method of testing the dry humidity of starch. Twist a pinch of starch with your fingers, if it is easy to be loose and lubricated, it means that the starch is dry; if it is easy to agglomerate and sticky, it means high humidity.
Starch is widely found in roots and dried fruits of plants and vegetables. Nowadays, the starches used in cooking include water chestnut starch, potato starch, mung bean starch, sweet potato starch, wheat starch and so on. These starches have their own characteristics.
1. Water chestnut starch: good quality water chestnut, containing 50% starch and 60% starch. Among the domestic starches, water chestnut starch has the best quality, which is characterized by white color, rich luster, powder, fine and smooth, high viscosity, but poor water absorption.
2. Potato starch: its quality is characterized by pure pink, rich luster, high viscosity and poor water absorption. The quality is similar to that of water chestnut starch.
3. Mung bean starch: it is called bean powder on the market, and its quality is similar to that of water chestnut starch. Mainly used in the production of starch products, such as cold noodles, vermicelli, vermicelli and so on.
4. Pea starch: also known as bean powder on the market, its quality is similar to that of mung bean powder.
5. Sweet potato starch: also known as taro starch, sweet potato starch. Its quality is characterized by gray color, rough texture and poor viscosity. But the swelling is strong, and it is also the raw material for the production of vermicelli and other products.
6. Wheat starch: it is a by-product of gluten production with wheat flour. It is mostly wet starch, and its quality is inferior to that of water chestnut starch. It is most used in cooking.
