Cornstarch

[cabrales]

I'd appreciate your views on the utilization of cornstarch as a thickening agent in certain Cantonese dishes. I've considered this an unappealing aspect of Cantonese cuisine for some time now. I've been wondering about the role of cornstarch in certain "heen" (last minute saucing components), and indeed, about the role of the "heen".

[Fat Guy]

Cabrales, thanks very much for your great questions thus far on the Q&A. As you've now asked eight of them, I hope you won't mind making this one your last for now. Thanks again. Over to you, Ed.

[eatingwitheddie]

I'd appreciate your views on the utilization of cornstarch as a thickening agent in certain Cantonese dishes.  I've considered this an unappealing aspect of Cantonese cuisine for some time now.   I've been wondering about the role of cornstarch in certain "heen" (last minute saucing components), and indeed, about the role of the "heen".  

ABOUT CORNSTARCH

Cornstarch and its use is a misunderstood topic. Whether you use corn or tapioca starch, you are using an ingredient that is fundamental to making sitr fried foods and their flavoring agents adhere to one another.

From a philosophical/cooking point of view I often describe stir frying as a process where we saute food until it is cooked and its textures are just right. It is then that we go about flavoring it with herbal ingredients such as garlic, ginger, scallion, pastes and chiles. Next we add a liquid seasoning sauce which thickens when heated enough and coats the food with flavor. Sometimes we put a little starch and maybe some egg white on the outside of our protein. When this food is cooked and then tossed in a sauce the surface starch on the meat or fish absorbs the sauce and it is then coated with flavor. If you weren't using starch the sauce would sit underneath the food and the dish would then have little or no taste.

Cornstarch is the key to marrying the food and its flavoring sauce! In fact I often find that when a dish is bland, it is because the sauce hasn't been thickened enough.

This is not a defense of gloppiness, it is merely pointing out that cornstarch has a correct use that is sometimes abused in the guise of too much sloppy sauce. It is in fact a critical item in the Chinese kitchen.

[cabrales]

Ed -- I appreciate that cornstarch is a critical item in the Chinese kitchen. However, in French cuisine, as you know, using cornstarch as a thickening or binding agent would be severely frowned upon.

I wonder whether there is an argument that reliance on cornstarch to attract flavors is a flaw of the stir fry technique, and therefore whether the overall benefits of the stir fry technique outweigh its costs (which include the need for cornstarch, if one sees cornstarch as a negative). What are your views on the benefits of stir frying, and other detriments of the technique?

Also, as you know, for stir frying, the traditional method did not use electricity, and relied on other forms of fuel. Do you sense that the the effects of the wok as deployed by a given cuisinier, can vary markedly depending on the fuel source, assuming other considerations are held constant?

Edited December 3, 2002 by cabrales (log)

[eatingwitheddie]

Ed -- I appreciate that cornstarch is a critical item in the Chinese kitchen. However, in French cuisine, as you know, using cornstarch as a thickening or binding agent would be severely frowned upon.

I wonder whether there is an argument that reliance on cornstarch to attract flavors is a flaw of the stir fry technique, and therefore whether the overall benefits of the stir fry technique outweigh its costs (which include the need for cornstarch, if one sees cornstarch as a negative).  What are your views on the benefits of stir frying, and other detriments of the technique?

Also, as you know, for stir frying, the traditional method did not use electricity, and relied on other forms of fuel. Do you sense that the the effects of the wok as deployed by a given cuisinier, can vary markedly depending on the fuel source, assuming other considerations are held constant?

In French cooking frequently many ingredients are cooked together for a long time, often creating a new flavor, and often impregnating that flavor into the food. Chinese cooking just works differently. The fact that the French may frown upon cornstarch ( I don't take it for a given that they do), doesn't mean that their techniques are superior. They have a different take on things and that helps to provide diversity. I clearly don't see cornstarch as a negative, nor do I agree that using it is the 'cost' of stir frying.

Stir frying has many benefits:

1) quick cooking of foods aids in maximizing their nutritional benefits.

2) things are cut in small pieces which means they are ready to be eaten without further work

3) stir frying takes place very quickly so it is highly fuel efficient. A roast takes hours of cooking vs. 1 minute for a stir fry

4) stir fry dishes are easily shared

[Suvir Saran]

Ed -- I appreciate that cornstarch is a critical item in the Chinese kitchen. However, in French cuisine, as you know, using cornstarch as a thickening or binding agent would be severely frowned upon.

I wonder whether there is an argument that reliance on cornstarch to attract flavors is a flaw of the stir fry technique, and therefore whether the overall benefits of the stir fry technique outweigh its costs (which include the need for cornstarch, if one sees cornstarch as a negative).  What are your views on the benefits of stir frying, and other detriments of the technique?

Also, as you know, for stir frying, the traditional method did not use electricity, and relied on other forms of fuel. Do you sense that the the effects of the wok as deployed by a given cuisinier, can vary markedly depending on the fuel source, assuming other considerations are held constant?

In French cooking frequently many ingredients are cooked together for a long time, often creating a new flavor, and often impregnating that flavor into the food. Chinese cooking just works differently. The fact that the French may frown upon cornstarch ( I don't take it for a given that they do), doesn't mean that their techniques are superior. They have a different take on things and that helps to provide diversity. I clearly don't see cornstarch as a negative, nor do I agree that using it is the 'cost' of stir frying.

Stir frying has many benefits:

1) quick cooking of foods aids in maximizing their nutritional benefits.

2) things are cut in small pieces which means they are ready to be eaten without further work

3) stir frying takes place very quickly so it is highly fuel efficient. A roast takes hours of cooking vs. 1 minute for a stir fry

4) stir fry dishes are easily shared

Coming from a man that has dined in more French restaurants than most people I know, I thank you Ed for your very sensitive answer.

I wish more of us would understand the intricacies involved in different cuisines and also understand how each cuisine has its own reasons to exist and be enjoyed. What is the point of comparing. It is odious at best. And damaging in the long run.

Your answer makes the corn starch disser in me open up to the world of stir fries in a new way. I grew up in a community of people that like some French people dissed the idea of using Corn Flour. And yet, amongst the same group, many would relish in its magic. But mostly, due to reasons unknown to me then (biases of the weak or unfortunate) as a young boy, I would find it difficult to understand or appreciate sauces with corn starch. With food I have eaten in your kitchen and with visits to the many Chinese restaurants you have taken me to, I have begun to appreciate starch in a new perspective. And I am glad you were able to get me to leave behind my baggage and try without bias what you presented me.

Thanks for now putting that act of freeing me from my prejudiced past into words. I hope others can appreciate the uniqueness of starch and stir fries. It can be a new journey you begin to take even without having to make much of an effort.

You are most generous and kind. Thanks for your hard work in this Q&A.

[cabrales]

Ed -- Yes, thanks for your abundant input. On cornstarch, are there certain brands that might be more appropriate for cooking? Do you mix the cornstarch with warm water, or water that is short of that?

[eatingwitheddie]

Ed -- Yes, thanks for your abundant input. On cornstarch, are there certain brands that might be more appropriate for cooking?  Do you mix the cornstarch with warm water, or water that is short of that?

All the brands cornstarch I've tried seem to work well and similarly. Mix cornstarch with any temperature except extremely hot water. If you let it sit it will settle and you should mix it from the bottom up to redistribute it evenly. I never measure when I make slurry but the proportion is a little bit more water than starch, perhap 1 1/2 to 1.

[trillium]

I like to use potato starch or tapioca starch over cornstarch in somethings. They're a little softer and harder in texture, respectively.

regards,

trillium

[eatingwitheddie]

I like to use potato starch or tapioca starch over cornstarch in somethings.  They're a little softer and harder in texture, respectively.

regards,

trillium

I cook with both. Tapioca is a traditional Chinese thickening agent and potato starch is not.

I must admit that I find all this fuss over cornstarch to be extremely silly. There's nothing wrong with it, only with the way people USE it.

A far better discussion would be how to use it correctly, and how does it compare with the other thickening agents we're talking about.

[trillium]

I cook with both. Tapioca is a traditional Chinese thickening agent and potato starch is not.

I must admit that I find all this fuss over cornstarch to be extremely silly. There's nothing wrong with it, only with the way people USE it.

A far better discussion would be how to use it correctly, and how does it compare with the other thickening agents we're talking about.