[Sca-cooks] Alternative Thickeners

[kingstaste at mindspring.com]

 both corn starch and rice flour should be safe, but my problem was that I
didn't know how much of either to use - or arrowroot, or any other
thickener.  I could have ended up with either a totally liquid pie or one
thicker than finger jello, and figured I'd ask for advice before spending
the money to experiment :)
-Magdalena

Sorry it took me a while to get back to this, but I do have some information
about using alternative thickeners.

Arrowroot - a starch that acts like the thickener cornstarch.  From the
arrowroot plant, arrowroot is easily digestible, and unlike cornstarch it is
unrefined.  Because of this it has a greater nutrient content.  Arrowroot
may be substituted, measure for measure, for cornstarch in any recipe.

Agar (also known as agar-agar) - derived from a smelly red seaweed.  After
harvesting, this seaweed is washed and sun-bleached, strained, and allowed
to harden and dry.  Through this process it is transformed into odorless
light-weight translucent bars, shaved into fine flakes, or powdered.  Agar
is used as a jelling agent.  You may remember it from your high school days,
as the growth medium used in petri dishes.  Agar acts like the gelatin in
Jello but is completely vegetarian.
Medicinally, agar can also act as a mild laxative by adding bulk.  This
seaweed is mostly indigestible complex carbohydrate that passes through the
body unchanged.  It bonds with toxic and radioactive pollutants and helps to
expell them from the body.  Agar is rich in iodine, calcium, iron, and other
trace minerals.

(Add agar to the liquid you wish to thicken while warm.  Stir until
dissolved.  Agar will start to set up immediately, it does not need to cool
to become firm. Form will determine amount used, read the package for
specifics.)

Kudzu (also known as kuzu) - a concentrated starch extracted from the deep
roots of the kuzu vine.  It is dried and sold in the form of white powder or
chalky lumps.  Kuzu may be used as a thickener like cornstarch and arrowroot
in sauces, gravies and stews; or used as a gelling agent like agar and
gelatin.  Kudzu has a high iron content, plus fair amounts of calcum and
phosphorus.