Alternative to corn starch?

[quotidianlight]

I'm still working on my asian cooking skills and need some help. A lot of the dishes I would like to learn use corn starch as a thickener. At 29 carbs per quarter cup I am looking for a healthier lower carb alternative. Cream of tarter is about the same. Any ideas?

[Shaemess]

I did a quick search and I found something called Konjac Flour. If you click on the title of the article it shows you the nutritional info which basically says, Carbs 3, Soluble fiber 3 and apparently 0 Calories. It's expensive though, at $19/ 500g.

[timbrewolf1]

To my way of thinking: the corn starch is simply designed to take time off of the process of "reducing." Why not just take the necessary cooking time to reduce the liquid to a thicker state?

[OzLover]

I looked in my Dana Carpenter cookbook to see what she suggests. You can use Guar and Xanthan Gums as a thickner. Looks like it is used in tiney quantities & she suggests to put hte quar or xanthan through the blender with whatever liquid you are using. Apparently it is difficult to whisk quar into a sauce & not get
"gummy lumps". Hope this helps!

[Shaemess]

Originally Posted by timbrewolf1

To my way of thinking: the corn starch is simply designed to take time off of the process of "reducing." Why not just take the necessary cooking time to reduce the liquid to a thicker state?

I guess it would depend on what you were cooking. In some cases you would run the risk of overcooking whatever it was you were reducing.

[not2late]

Cream of tartar is NOT the same as cornstarch!!!! So don't use that.

What phase are you in Quotient? If you are already through the Grain Rungs of OWL Phase, then you can use rice flour, barley flour, etc. If you use them, treat them like you would wheat flour and make a roux, rather than mixing them into a hot liquid to thicken.

Corn is a New World food product. Before 1492, it was unknown in Europe and Asia. So any thickening these cultures used prior to that wasn't corn-based. Ditto for potatoes.

[quotidianlight]

I'm still not using any flour and won't for some time given some brief but disastrous experiments. As for reducing, it works for most things but occasionally I am cooking something that really needs a thickener of some type. Isn't there a thickener from sea weed or am I thinking of gelatin. I'll also try cooking the sauce separate for awhile and see if that helps.

I discarded guar gum out of hand because of the name sounding like some synthesized chemical but after a quick wiki... it's natural!!!! yippeee. Thanks.

[sallyseachange]

The guar gum works quite well, but you have to be a little careful not to use too much. If you do, the food you are thickening can get a bit slimy.

[Chef Kevin]

remember, the thickening process in most things is the gelatinization of the starch molecules. It is very difficult to find other ingredients that wll mimic these characteristics. Nothing thickens like a starch. But, with the carbs, they are not an option.
As for reducing to thicken, that is a possibility, but many people try to reduce sauces after they season them and then that causes the sauce to be overly salty, or spicy, or whatever. Reduction should be done BEFORE seasoning.

That's why we chefs do not season stocks and sauces until just before service.

If you reduce a sauce down until it coats the back of a spoon, it is called glace (pronounced gloss). It is a wonderful product, can be added to sauces to really enrich them.

To finish sauces, we monte au beurre them, or mount the sauce with butter. After the sauce is cooked, we turn the heat off, put a little butter in it, swirl it around, and that makes the sauce a bit thicker and glossy. MMMMMM......

As far as the gums go, they work, but in small amounts. I think they alter the texture of foods more than starches, but are lower in carbs. I don't use them much myself. I prefer to reduce sauces.

[ValidRouge]

Originally Posted by Shaemess

I did a quick search and I found something called Konjac Flour. If you click on the title of the article it shows you the nutritional info which basically says, Carbs 3, Soluble fiber 3 and apparently 0 Calories. It's expensive though, at $19/ 500g.

Also look for "Glucomannan." You can get this in the vitamin section of most health food stores--you'll just have to break open the capsules. It works pretty well for thickening. This is what shiritake noodles are made from.