Ingredients by Pictures: Flours and Starches
A pictorial guide to flours and starches available in Australia.
High-Protein or High-Gluten Flour a.k.a. Bread Flour (left) - from Taiwan
Low-Protein or Low-Gluten Flour a.k.a. Cake Flour (right) - from Taiwan
Bread Flour from Taiwan (new packaging 2006)
Cake Flour from Taiwan (new packaging 2006)
Bread Flour from Taiwan (Six Fortune brand)
Bread Flour from Indonesia (Photo courtesy of WhItE_PoPlAr)
Bread Flour (Photo courtesy of Jan)
Cake Flour made in Indonesia (Photo courtesy of Jan)
Vietnamese Pau Flour (Photo courtesy of Jan)
Yeast and Bread Improver (Photo courtesy of WhItE_PoPlAr)
Bread Improver
Continental Flour a.k.a. Roti Flour (Indian-Style)
Atta Flour a.k.a. Chapati Flour (Indian Wholemeal Low-Gluten Flour)
Fine Semolina Flour
Gluten Flour (Powdered Gluten)
Wheat Starch for making Dim Sums
Real Cornflour a.k.a. Corn Starch (left)
Wheaten Cornflour a.k.a. Wheat Starch (right)
Corn Starch
Custard Powder: Two brands of Custard Powder readily available in all supermarkets
Mung Bean Starch a.k.a. Hun Kwee Flour
(Malaysian/Singaporean/Indonesian-Type)
Mung Bean Starch:
Thai (left)
Malaysian/Singaporean/Indonesian (right)
Mung Bean Flour, meal from whole mung bean (not to be confused with Mung Bean Starch)
Water Chestnut Starch
Rice Flour (Asian-Type)
Rice Flour (Western-Type) a.k.a. Ground Rice: This is the type to use when making shortbread, as it is not ground as fine as Asian-Type Rice Flour
Glutinous Rice Flour
Cooked Glutinous Rice Flour a.k.a. Koh Fun
High-Protein or High-Gluten Flour a.k.a. Bread Flour (left) - from Taiwan
Low-Protein or Low-Gluten Flour a.k.a. Cake Flour (right) - from Taiwan
Bread Flour from Taiwan (new packaging 2006)
Cake Flour from Taiwan (new packaging 2006)
Bread Flour from Taiwan (Six Fortune brand)
Bread Flour from Indonesia (Photo courtesy of WhItE_PoPlAr)
Bread Flour (Photo courtesy of Jan)
Cake Flour made in Indonesia (Photo courtesy of Jan)
Vietnamese Pau Flour (Photo courtesy of Jan)
Yeast and Bread Improver (Photo courtesy of WhItE_PoPlAr)
Bread Improver
Continental Flour a.k.a. Roti Flour (Indian-Style)
Atta Flour a.k.a. Chapati Flour (Indian Wholemeal Low-Gluten Flour)
Fine Semolina Flour
Gluten Flour (Powdered Gluten)
Wheat Starch for making Dim Sums
Real Cornflour a.k.a. Corn Starch (left)
Wheaten Cornflour a.k.a. Wheat Starch (right)
Corn Starch
Custard Powder: Two brands of Custard Powder readily available in all supermarkets
Mung Bean Starch a.k.a. Hun Kwee Flour
(Malaysian/Singaporean/Indonesian-Type)
Mung Bean Starch:
Thai (left)
Malaysian/Singaporean/Indonesian (right)
Mung Bean Flour, meal from whole mung bean (not to be confused with Mung Bean Starch)
Water Chestnut Starch
Rice Flour (Asian-Type)
Rice Flour (Western-Type) a.k.a. Ground Rice: This is the type to use when making shortbread, as it is not ground as fine as Asian-Type Rice Flour
Glutinous Rice Flour
Cooked Glutinous Rice Flour a.k.a. Koh Fun
posted by SeaDragon @ 16.11.05
23 Comments:
Hi, Seadragon
The wheat flour showed (top pic), is this the same as the regular all purpose flour (for making breads) or is this wheat starch (for dim sum)? I saw this in the grocery stores but didn't know what was it used for. Thanks.
sharon,
The one on the left is 'bread flour' ('high-protein flour', or 'high-gluten flour'), used for making breads where higher percentage of gluten is required to trap the air. It has a higher gluten content than all-purpose flour.
The one on the right is 'cake flour' ('low-protein flour', or 'low-gluten flour'), used for making cakes etc. It has a lower gluten content than all-purpose flour.
They are not wheat starch. I will try to post the wheat starch (for dim sum) packaging next time I buy a pack, it has the same packaging as the cooked glutinous rice flour (last pic).
HTH.
Thanks for the clarification.It has been most helpful.
Hi SeaDragon,
Which of the flours are use to make noodles? Like Chee Cheong Fun and Mein? Would you know of a recipe for Chee Cheong Fun?
Thanks,
lance
sharon,
You're welcome!
lance,
Hmm, I have never tried making noodles before, so that's a hard question to answer.
I think mein would be either plain (all-purpose) flour or high-protein flour depending on types of noodle or texture you want.
Chee Cheong Fun would be using (Asian) rice flour and very hard to make at home from scratch as far as I know. I think you need a big steamer in order to steam the batter as a thin layer on a piece of cloth then fill with filling and with a lot of skill to separate it from the cloth and roll it up...
For homemade ones, easier to just buy those rice noodle sheets (similar to those kway teow noodle) as a substitute and use that to wrap and steam.
I have got a couple of recipes in Chinese but I have not tried them myself, so a bit hesitant about giving them. If you really want to make them from scratch, let me know then I will post them.
hi sd
can you put caption under (or above) each picture? i cannot read chinese. thanks.
and my i contribute two pictures
http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a341/RCmember/Food/vietnamesepauflour.jpg and http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a341/RCmember/Food/breadflour.jpg
Jan,
Done and thank you very much for your contributions :)
Do they sell High Ratio Flour or cake flour? Or do you blend your own, i.e. plain flour and corn flour? _K
SeaDragon,
Thank you very kindly for the information of noodle making. I guess I'll stick to buying Chee Cheong Fun from the noodle shops and dim sum restaurants. Seems much easier than attempting to make my own. - lance
Kirsten,
No, not in normal supermarket, apart from the one imported from Taiwan sold in Chinese Groceries (1st pic above). I usually blend my own, 80% plain flour to 20% wheat starch.
lance,
No worries.
Tinkerbell,
Bread Improver should be available in Coles or other larger supermarkets. Sometimes it is put under the health food section, sometimes near the flour. I think it is made by 'Lowan' here in Vic (see packaging for Gluten Flour, it has the same packaging).
Bread Softener, so far I have not seen it being sold here as an individual ingredient. What I do is use 'bread mix' to substitute ingredients in a bread recipe. 'Bread mix' already contains bread improver, bread softener, salt etc. inside, so just omit these ingredients in the recipe when using 'bread mix' as a substitution. However you need to pay attention and use a bit of common sense when doing substitution, for example, 'bread mix' may already contains sugar in the mix, but it is only in very small amount, so if you are making sweet bread dough, you need to adjust and still add sugar in the recipe. Also try to buy the correct 'bread mix' for the recipe you're using, eg, buy 'soft bread mix' if you are making a soft-bread typed recipe.
Superfine Flour, if I'm not mistaken is the same as Cake Flour. You can only buy this in Asian Supermarkets or larger Asian Groceries, see the first picture above (the one on the right), it is imported from Taiwan. I have not seen it in any of the normal supermarket.
For substitution, what you can do is buy plain flour (look at the Nutrition Information listed on the package, look for protein content, it can varies from 9g to 11g protein per 100g plain flour depending on the brand - choose one with around 9g protein per 100g flour, or the lowest one you can find), then use that plain flour and mix with wheaten cornflour to make your own Cake Flour:
80g plain flour + 20g wheaten cornflour = 100g Cake Flour (and remember to sift it a few times to aerate the mixture before using).
High Protein Flour can be found in Coles or other larger supermarkets, usually the smallest package is 5kg (see second picture provided by Jan), or buy it from Asian supermarkets which comes in 500g-pack (first pic, the one on the left).
For substitution, again buy plain flour, but choose one with a higher protein content, then mix with Gluten Flour (see 6th pic above), there's instruction of how much to mix on the Gluten Flour packaging, usually about 1 teaspoon Gluten Flour to 1 cup Plain Flour.
Hope these answer your queries :)
Wow, how did I miss this blog entry. It is so informative and exactly what I was looking for. Thanks heaps Seadragon!
Tinkerbell
another picture to add to your collection, cake flour made in Indonesia http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a341/RCmember/mini-IMGP2266.jpg
Thanks, Jan :)
WhItE_PoPlAr,
Thank you very much. I will add them to this post, I'm sure they will be of much help to other people :)
what is the difference between 'cooked glutinous rice flour' and 'glutinous rice flour'? Can I use glutinous rice flour for recipes that require cooked glutinous rice flour (Koh fun)?? Thank you
Hi,
No, you cannot use glutinous rice flour for recipes that require cooked glutinous rice flour (Koh fun).
'Cooked glutinous rice flour', as its name said, is already pre-cooked (glutinous rice that has been cooked then ground into powder), so can be eaten without needing further cooking.
'Glutinous rice flour' is still raw, so need to be cooked before eating.
Hi Sea Dragon,
The Koh Fun I found is from the same Cock brand as the one you posted. The Chinese words are the same but in English it said "wheat starch". So is this koh fun or I have to find the bag that has the words "roasted rice flour"? Please let me know.
Thank You So Much.
If the label said 'wheat starch', that is not koh fun. See above, I also have a pic of that 'wheat starch' which is used for making 'crystal pastry'. Unfortunately that brand produces a few different types of flour, with exactly the same colours on the packaging, you really have to read the label name carefully to identify the correct flour you want to buy. Yes, you need to buy the one saying 'roasted rice flour' for koh fun.
Eh, just read the label again, it should say RICE FLOUR (Glutinous -Fried).
Hello Sea Dragon,
Thanks for your reply. It was a bit confusing since I read it from another blog that the Chinese words on the bag for Koh Fun are the same for wheat starch and roasted rice flour so I thought they are the same.
I think a previous reader from your blog also had some confusion with the Koh Fun from this Cock brand. I really appreciate your help in clearing that out for me.
Chefmate
Hi Sea dragon, Am very surprised so see so much useful information ... wow great work,
I just would like to know whether you know anyone who makes or teaches how to make sarawak layered cake in Melbourne..i have just taken baking as a hobby and i came across this layered cakes attractive,,, is there anyone in melbourne who teaches or makes and sells these cakes..? any idea
Sorry, I have no information on that.
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