Chieftain^® Wild Rice Company

ARROWROOT

Description:

Arrowroot is a tall perennial with long shiny leaves that sport swollen, creeping fleshy rhizomes with upward-curving, cylindrical tubers covered with large, thin scales.  Grinding these thick rhizomes into a starchy white powder makes Arrowroot.  Used primarily as a culinary and cosmetic thickening agent, Arrowroot is also identified as an easily digested and nourishing food for convalescents.  Arrowroot has a neutral taste and thickens at lower temperatures than cornstarch.  Arrowroot can be used to thicken more delicate egg-based soups and sauces and imparts a glossy look to the sauce.  Do not add too early in the cooking process, as overheating tends to destroy its thickening property.  Arrowroot was used for application to wounds from scorpion, snake and spider bites and to arrest gangrene and aid in the healing of arrow wounds, thus believed to be the origin of the name.

Suggested Use:

Arrowroot can be used as a substitute for Wheat Flour or Cornstarch.  It imparts no flavor to your food and cooks up clear with a smooth texture and can be used as flour in some baking recipes.  Arrowroot can be used in stews, soups, puddings, biscuits and soufflés.