How to identify the quality of edible starch

Look: high-quality starch, white and shiny, without impurities; low-quality starch, yellow or gray-white, with impurities.

Smell: In addition to the smell of raw materials, there should be no other peculiar smell.

Twist: This is the method to test the dryness of starch. Twist a pinch of starch with your fingers. If it is easy to loosen and the fingers feel lubricated, it means that the starch is dry; if it is easy to agglomerate and has a sticky feeling, it means that the humidity is high.

Starch is widely found in roots and dried fruits of plants and vegetables. The starches used in cooking today include water chestnut starch, potato starch, mung bean starch, sweet potato starch, wheat starch, etc. Each of these starches has its own characteristics.

1. Water chestnut starch: Good quality water chestnut contains 50%~60% starch. Among domestic starches, water chestnut starch has the best quality. Its quality characteristics are: white color, shiny, powdery quality, delicate and smooth, with high viscosity, but poor water absorption.

2. Potato starch: Its quality characteristics are pink and white, shiny, highly viscous, and poor water absorption. The quality is similar to that of water chestnut starch.

3. Mung bean starch: It is called bean flour on the market, and its quality is similar to water caltrop starch. It is mostly used in the production of starch products, such as jelly, vermicelli, etc.

4. Pea starch: Also called bean flour on the market, its quality is similar to mung bean flour.

5. Sweet potato starch: also known as taro starch and sweet potato starch. Its quality is characterized by gray color, rough texture and poor viscosity. However, it is highly expandable and is also a raw material for the production of vermicelli and other products.

6. Wheat starch: It is a by-product of the production of gluten from wheat flour. It is mostly wet starch, whose quality is second to water chestnut starch and is most used in cooking. (Editor in charge: Tian Tian)