Starch alternatives in thickeners

[doronin]

What can be used instead of starch or white flour as a thickener for sauces for people that have troubles with high GI foods?

[EdS]

One idea is to reduce your sauce and then swirl cold butter in at the end.

Another is to add a vegetable puree. I know the GI increases as the particle size decreases so I think a vegetable would likely have a higher GI as a puree than what would be listed on some general chart.

You could use heavy cream or creme fraiche.

You could add something gelatenous like a pig's foot, if you're doing a braise.

You could even forget about thickening and serve the sauce as more of a broth and serve in a deep plate or bowl.

I don't know the comparative GI's of these.

Edited March 27, 2006 by esvoboda (log)

[Teppy]

I've recently been using Konjac flour as a thichener, and the stuff is incredible: Zero calories (pure fiber), totally neutral taste, and easy to use.

If I had to compare the mouthfeel, I'd say it's closest to cornstarch - if you overdo it, your sauce will have the consistency of overthickened chinese food.

I get mine from www.konjacfoods.com. They also sell Konjac based "pasta", a zero-calorie pasta that, while not having the same texture as semolina based pasta, has an appealing texture of it's own. (I believe konjac noodles are a traditional ingredient in sukiyaki.)

I started with one of their sampler packs which includes a bunch of "pasta" shapes along with 2 ounces of the pure flour. I find that the angel hair pasta is the most useful because it soaks up sauces the best.

Anyone else have experience with this?

[andiesenji]

Have you check the GI of Arrowroot?

I use it in many things, from savory sauces to desserts.

I also use Guar gum, Xanthene gum (especially for baking gluten-free breads and etc.)

I haven't tried the Konjac flour yet. However I did have some Locust bean powder that was available at the local health food store for a while and it worked very well.

Arrowroot is very good when you have to thicken something with a high acid content because it doesn't break down in stuff that contains tomatoes. However you don't want to use it in anything that contains casein, such as milk, cream, etc. Which is why you want to use a variety of thickening agents.

I have a small jar of kudzu root powder which I used once, with good results.

I recently got a little bag of lotus root flour at the middle eastern market - it is marked Gluten-free.

at the same time I got something called SAHLAB, and I am not sure what it is made from, the writing is in Arabic, but it was in the display with the other thickeners and I was told it was a thickener - I have yet to look in one of my cookbooks to see how it is used.

I just checked in the cabinet and I also have a can of Sago startch - from the Phillipine market - it says made from Sago Palm - For pudding, for meat sauce, for fish sauce, for dip sauce, for make candy. Betancourt Brand, Product of Philipines.

I haven't tried it yet either.

Edited March 27, 2006 by andiesenji (log)

[Daniel]

Blood?

[miladyinsanity]

at the same time I got something called SAHLAB, and I am not sure what it is made from, the writing is in Arabic, but it was in the display with the other thickeners and I was told it was a thickener - I have yet to look in one of my cookbooks to see how it is used.

I just checked in the cabinet and I also have a can of Sago startch - from the Phillipine market - it says made from Sago Palm - For pudding, for meat sauce, for fish sauce, for dip sauce, for make candy.  Betancourt Brand, Product of Philipines. 

I haven't tried it yet either.

←

I believe the Sahlab is what is used to make Turkish-style ice cream, but I could be wrong.

The sago starch is a good thickener, and it's tasteless as well. I don't know about its GI though.

[bandregg]

What about masa harina? I just made a lovely venison black-bean chili from Stephan Pyles that calls for 2 teaspoons of masa stirred in at the end.

[miladyinsanity]

What about masa harina? I just made a lovely venison black-bean chili from Stephan Pyles that calls for 2 teaspoons of masa stirred in at the end.

←

Masa Harina is made from corn, right? I don't think it fits doronin's low GI requirement.

List of Thickeners

Edited March 27, 2006 by miladyinsanity (log)

[dougal]

I think Xanthan Gum is most commonly used by the food processing industries, and its used not only for special diet foods.

There was a recent thread in this forum on the stuff

http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showtopic=42991

Searching the forums for Xanthan gives lots of other hits...

Although there are plenty alternatives, as above, and plenty more - no-one has mentioned alginates yet! (Or pectin.)

There's also the possibility of doing your sauce as a Ferran Adria-style foam - he uses gelatine to stabilise the foam (see The Cooks Book), although he does seem to think this is appropriate for vegetarians...