What is the difference between starching, coating with batter and thickening? The right method makes the dish taste better!

my country's food culture is extensive and profound. There are many ways to cook a dish with the same ingredients, and it can present different tastes. Different ways of processing ingredients before cooking can also make the dishes show different appearances and flavors.

Some people will directly put the cut ingredients into the pan and stir-fry when cooking, while others will do some pretreatment before cooking, such as coating the ingredients with starch, and some will add the process of thickening during cooking.

These operations give the dishes a variety of flavors, and the finished dishes are more colorful and mouth-watering. So, what are starching and battering? How can they be used in cooking? This article will talk about them.

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01

What are starching, battering and thickening?

Baking, coating and thickening are common techniques in Chinese cooking, collectively referred to as "baking techniques". With eggs, flour and water as the main ingredients, the first two can coat the outside of the food with a sticky "shell" to protect it, while the latter thickening technique can help to balance the texture of the dish.

① Battering: First, mix starch, eggs, water, etc. together to make a sticky batter with thick mucus. Drag the raw materials through it and stick them with thick batter without leaving a "little tail", and then fry, pan-fry, stir-fry, bake, stick, etc.

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After the raw materials are coated with batter, the outer layer of slurry forms a brittle protective film, while the inner layer of food raw materials has a slow heat conduction, and the final temperature can be less than 100 ℃, so less water loss, more nutrition retention, and less overflow of water-soluble vitamins. For example, the moisture retention rate of tenderloin coated with batter is increased by 18-56% compared with direct frying, chicken breast by 15-30%, and fish by 34-41%.

During the cooking process of battered ingredients, the batter will be denatured by the high temperature oil first, and the amino acids and reducing sugars in the batter will interact with each other, or the carbohydrates will be caramelized, causing browning and forming an attractive aroma and color. The batter loses moisture during frying, and the taste is crispy.

② Battering: Directly mix the raw materials for battering with seasonings, ingredients, etc. and knead evenly. The batter is thinner and suitable for making smooth, fried and stir-fried dishes.

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When sizing meat, you usually need to add some salt and stir it evenly. This will free the salt-soluble myosin in the myofibrils, increase the thickness of the protein hydration layer, improve the water holding capacity of the protein, and shorten the maturation time of the raw materials. When sizing, first add salt to stir and beat it, then add starch and egg white. Seasonings also need to be added at the same time as sizing, such as green onions, ginger, cooking wine, etc., to enhance the flavor and remove the fishy smell.

When ingredients are cooked through the starching process, a protective film will form when they are heated, so that the appearance of the ingredients remains fresh and smooth after cooking. This is because the starch will first be heated and denatured by the hot oil during the cooking process, and then a series of attractive aromas and colors will be formed through the Maillard reaction and caramelization reaction, and the water loss of the ingredients will be reduced, and the loss of nutrients will also be reduced.

③Thickening:

The process of starch gelatinization when heated. During the thickening process, starch granules absorb water and expand in volume when heated, and then gradually disintegrate to form a colloidal solution or a viscous paste-like liquid. The purpose of thickening dishes is to increase the viscosity, make the soup thicker, and enhance the taste. If used for stewing, it can make the ingredients crispy on the surface and tender on the inside.

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Just like coating with batter, thickening also has a certain protective effect on the nutrients in the ingredients. However, in order to avoid affecting the taste, thickening needs to be done at the right time. Generally, thickening is done when the ingredients are 90% cooked. Thickening too early may cause the pot to get stuck, and thickening too late may increase the cooking time. If you are thickening soup, you need to do it after the soup boils.

02

Which starch is suitable for each?

The reason why starch can be used as a raw material for sizing, battering and thickening is mainly because of its gelatinization effect.

Starch does not absorb water at room temperature, but after heating, the starch undergoes structural changes and begins to absorb water. The hydrogen bonds between starch molecules break, and the starch disperses in water to form a hydrophilic colloidal solution. Water molecules can then enter the starch granules and hydrogen-bond with the starch molecules. The starch granules begin to absorb water, increasing in volume until they break apart. The starch molecules become single molecules surrounded by water molecules, pulling each other together, and become a viscous solution.

Compared with amylose and amylopectin, starch with a high amylose content is more difficult to gelatinize.

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There are about 6 common types of starch we use, including potato starch, corn starch, mung bean starch, wheat starch, sweet potato starch, and tapioca starch.

① Potato starch: The granules are very large, the content of amylose is 17% and the molecules are very long, the content of amylopectin is 83%, the gelatinization temperature is about 59 ℃, the gelatinization speed is fast, the viscosity rises quickly, and the brittleness is small. It also contains a large amount of phosphates with weak charges, and the starch chains repel each other, making the soup thicker, clearer, and tastier. Therefore, potato starch is very suitable for thickening, and secondly for sizing.

②Corn starch: One of the most commonly used starches in cooking, its gelatinization temperature is about 64°C, the gelatinization process is slow, the transparency is poor, but the gelling effect is good, suitable for sizing and battering.

③Mung bean starch: The gelatinization temperature is about 69°C, the amylose content is 26%, and the particles are small and evenly distributed. The starch has a hard structure, is difficult to gelatinize, has high transparency, and has good thermal paste stability, and can be used for thickening.

④Wheat starch: The particles are spherical and relatively regular. The gelatinization temperature is about 65 ℃, the transparency is poor, the hot viscosity is low, and the thickening effect is not as good as potato starch. If you want to achieve the same viscosity, the amount required is also larger. It is generally used to make noodles and can barely be used for sizing.

⑤ Sweet potato starch: The gelatinization temperature is relatively high, about 70°C, the transparency is poor, but the crispness is the highest, and it is suitable for battering.

⑥ Tapioca starch: It will form a sticky clot when it meets water, and it will become transparent after gelatinization. It has a sticky and chewy texture. It is not suitable for starching, battering or thickening, and is often used to make pudding.

03

Common dishes

In the batter coating process, there are gouache paste, egg powder paste and baking powder paste.

Among them, water-based starch paste is generally suitable for crispy stir-frying, such as stir-fried mandarin fish with vinegar, stir-fried preserved eggs, and stir-fried pork slices. Preparation: 800 grams of dry starch and 650 grams of water.

Egg powder paste is divided into whole egg paste, egg white paste and egg yolk paste. Whole egg paste is mostly used for deep-frying, sautéing, pan-frying, deep-frying, pot stickers, roasting, pulling silk and other dishes, making them golden in color and crispy in taste. The weight of flour + starch is about 3 times that of eggs, and the amount of water is controlled according to the consistency; egg white paste is mostly used for soft fried dishes, such as soft fried tenderloin, soft fried shrimp, soft fried mushrooms, soft fried fish strips, etc. The preparation is: egg white: starch = 1:1, if it is beaten egg paste, egg white weight: starch = 2:1; egg yolk paste is mostly used for frying to increase the crispness, such as sweet and sour tenderloin, sweet and sour fish fillet, the ratio is: egg yolk: flour: starch: lard = 2:3:1:1.

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Baking powder batter is a batter prepared by adding baking powder. The most commonly used one is crispy batter, which makes the food taste crispy, such as crispy prawns and fried fish fillets. Preparation: 30% flour, 30% starch, 35% water, 8% egg white, 10% salad oil, and 1% baking powder.

In the battering process, it is divided into egg white batter, whole egg batter, baking soda batter and crispy batter.

Egg white batter is generally used to make fried pork tenderloin and stir-fried shredded chicken, which is composed of starch, egg white and water; whole egg batter can be used to make fish fillet in tomato sauce, which is composed of starch, whole egg liquid and water; baking soda batter can be used to make beef in oyster sauce, which is composed of starch, egg white, baking soda, water and salt; crispy batter can be used to make crispy tofu, which is composed of baking powder, starch, vegetable oil and flour.

The main steps of thickening are wrapping, paste making and pouring .

The wrapping is a thick starch. After the food is thickened, no soup will flow out when placed on a plate. It is mostly used in stir-fried dishes, such as eggplant boxes, fried chicken, and dry-fried mushrooms.

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The paste is thinner than the wrapping liquid and has higher water content. It is used for dishes with more soup, such as sweet and sour pork and golden lionfish.

Pouring is mainly used to pour the sauce on the dish after it is cooked. Drizzling is mainly used when the dish is about to be served and is close to being cooked. The sauce is slowly poured into the soup of the dish while shaking the pot to increase the viscosity of the dish, such as thickening tofu soup.

Summarize:

The techniques of starching, coating and thickening can improve the color, taste and nutrition of dishes and stimulate appetite. However, the characteristics of dishes in different parts of my country are different and vary greatly, so the cooking methods need to be adjusted according to local conditions.

References:

[1] Yang Mingduo, Li Yue. Research progress on battering technology and its standardization in cooking[J]. Journal of Sichuan Tourism College, 2017(04):24-27.

[2]Qiu Renzhi. Thickening techniques in Chinese cooking[J]. Modern Food, 2021(24):85-87.DOI:10.16736/j.cnki.cn41-1434/ts.2021.24.024.

[3] Zhao Meili. Research on the adaptability of different types of starch in cooking[J]. Modern Agricultural Research, 2020, 26(09): 118-119. DOI: 10.19704/j.cnki.xdnyyj.2020.09.057.

[4] Harold Mackey, author. Translated by Cai Chengzhi. Food and Cooking. Pasta, Sauces, Desserts, Beverages. Beijing Fine Arts Photography Publishing House. August 2013.

[5] Chen Shengshu, Meng Xiangren, Tu Mingliang. Research progress of sizing technology[J]. Modern Food, 2019(05):61-63.DOI:10.16736/j.cnki.cn41-1434/ts.2019.05.022.

Author | Xue Qingxin, member of Chinese Nutrition Society, registered dietitian, health manager, public nutritionist

Review | Gao Chao, Associate Researcher, Institute of Nutrition and Health, Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention

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