Food Commodities Knowledge: Types of Flour
1. High Protein Flour/ Bread Flour
- Protein content more than 12.5%.
- Name of Plant: Wheat
- Dishes: The best use for Bread, Dougnut, Pizza, etc.
- Brands: Merk Cakra Kembar, King Arthur Brand, and White lily.
- KOMACHI is a Japanese Wheat Flour brand, widely used for making donuts.
2. Medium Protein Flour/ All-Purpose Flour
- Protein content between 10-11%
- Dishes: The best use for Fritter, Pan-fried fish, Eclair and Profiterole, Cookies, etc.
- Brands: Merk Segitiga Biru, King Arthur Brand, and White Lily Brand
- Name of Plant: Wheat
3. Low Protein Flour/ Cake Flour
- Protein content, about 8-9%.
- Dishes: The best use for any types of cakes such as Sponge cake, Black Forest, etc.
- Brands: Merk Kunci, King Arthur Brand, and White Lily Brand.
- Name of Plant: Wheat
4. Brown Bread Crumb
- Bread crumb is made from crushed dry bread, used for breading or crumbing food.
- Dishes: Rissoles, Potato Croquettes, Chicken Nugget and sprinkle baked dishes such as Potatoes Gratin, Baked Pasta, etc.
- Name of Plant: Wheat
5. Panko Bread Crumb
- The texture is rougher than the usual bread flour, Usually white.
- Dishes: Ordinary to make Katsu (tonkatsu) or Tempura. It feels crisper and crunchy.
- Name of Plant: Wheat
6. Pastry Flour
- Made from soft wheat, which makes it finer than all-purpose flour.
- Its protein content places it between all-purpose and cake flours.
- You can make it by mixing a 2-to-1 ratio of all-purpose to cake flours.
- Dishes: Pastry Products
- Name of Plant: Wheat
7. Whole Wheat Flour
- By grinding entire kernels of red wheat.
- Wheat seed head has three portions: the germ, bran, and endosperm.
- White flour includes just the endosperm, not the bran and germ. But the bran and germ contain the bulk of the fiber and protein.
- Dishes: Bread
- Name of Plant: Wheat
8. White Whole Wheat Flour
- This variety contains the endosperm, germ, and bran of a paler variety of wheat called hard white wheat.
- It tastes slightly sweeter than traditional whole wheat, thanks to its lower tannin content.
- Despite the difference in look and taste, whole wheat and white whole wheat flours have the same nutritional value.
- Dishes: Bread
- Name of Plant: Wheat
9. Self Rising Flour
- This variety is a blend of all-purpose flour, baking powder, and salt.
- You can make it in your kitchen. Just mix 1 cup of all-purpose flour with 1½ teaspoons of baking powder and ¼ teaspoon fine salt.
- Dishes: Cakes
- Name of Plant: Wheat
10. Wheat starch/ Tang Mein Flour
- Wheat starch or Tang Mein or Tang meen fun, or Tang flour
- The gluten in the flour has been removed.
- When mixed with water it produces a pastry dough.
- It is mainly used as a wrapping for dumplings such as ‘Har Kau’ or ‘Choy pau'.
- Dishes: Chinese Dumpling/Dimsum, Wonton, etc.
- Name of Plant: Wheat.
10. Oat Flour
- It doesn’t come from wheat. Instead, made from ground oats.
- Oat flour has a superfine, even fluffy texture.
- its sweet flavor makes it “one of the most approachable ‘whole grain’ flavors.”
- Oat flour is gluten-free and therefore perfect for people on a gluten-free diet
- Dishes: Bread, Cereal, Cookies, etc.
- Name of Plant: Oat
12. Semolina
- Made from the coarsely ground endosperm of durum wheat.
- Semolina has the highest gluten content of all flours.
- Semolina flour labeled as 00 flour, a finely ground pasta flour that has a mid-range protein content of about 11% to 12%.
- The gluten from durum wheat flour tends to be strong but not very elastic. In contrast, the gluten in flour made from red wheat is both strong and elastic.
- Dishes: Pasta, Pizza Dough, Bread, etc.
- Name of Plant: Durum Wheat
13. Rye Flour
- It is flour milled from whole rye berries and grains of ryegrass. Closely related to wheat flour, it has a slightly sour taste and is used to prepare rye bread and sourdough bread.
- Loaves of bread produced with this flour are generally darker and denser than other types.
- There are light, medium, and dark-colored varieties of rye flour.
- The color of the flour depends on how much of the bran has been removed through the milling process.
- Conversely, if most of the bran has been removed, the flour will be finer and lighter.
- Dishes: Bread, Cookies, etc.
- Name of Plant: Rye.
14. Rice Flour
- It is a fine flour made from ground rice.
- It is gluten-free, including even “glutinous rice flour,” which is made from sweet rice and is a staple for making Japanese treats like mochi.
- Rice flour can be used in a wide variety of dishes and also as a base of noodles in many Asian cuisines.
- As a thickener in sauces, as a breading for fried dishes, and as the base for various baked goods.
- Dishes: Rice flour pancake, Puttu, and Indonesian Dessert (Kue lapis, Kue Apem, Kue Cucur, Serabi, Kue Talam, etc.)
- Name of Plant: Rice
15. Glutinous Rice Flour
- Glutinous rice flour or sticky rice is a common component in Asian cuisine.
- It is also known as sweet flour or waxy rice flour.
- When cooked, glutinous rice becomes moist and firm but also develops a notable stickiness.
- Dishes: Mochi/ Moci, Klepon, Onde-Onde, etc.
- Name of Plant: Sticky Rice/ Glutinous rice is a type of rice grown mainly in Southeast and East Asia, Northeastern India, and Bhutan
16. Tapioca Flour/ Tapioca Starch
- Gluten-free flour from the cassava root
- It can be used as a thickening agent in both sweet and savory dishes.
- Dishes: Commonly use for Indonesian Desert or Snack such as Kue lapis, Kue Cenil, Empek - Empek, Siomay, etc.
- Name of Plant: Cassava
17. Arrowroot Powder/ Arrowroot Flour
- Similar Tapioca is a white, flavorless powder used to thicken sauces, soups, and other foods.
- Arrowroot powder has twice the thickening power of wheat flour and because it contains no protein, arrowroot is gluten-free.
- Some Arrowroot powder is comprised of starches extracted from various tropical tubers, such as the arrowroot plant and cassava.
- Some lower quality arrowroot powder blends may also contain potato starch, so be sure to read ingredient lists carefully.
- Dishes: As a thickening agent for soup, sauce, Cookies, Pudding, etc.
- Name of Plant: Maranta arundinacea plant/ Arrowroot Plant
18. Sago
- It is dried starch granules derived from the pitch of the sago tree.
- Sago flour is very rich in starch and has the same thickening ability as tapioca flour.
- Dishes: In fact, sago and tapioca flour may be used interchangeably for making Kue (Indonesian Cake), Bread, and Cakes.
- Name of Plant: Sago.
19. Corn Starch
- Cornstarch or maize starch or maize or maizena is the starch derived from the corn (maize) grain.
- The starch is obtained from the endosperm of the kernel.
- Cornstarch is gluten-free.
- Dishes: Corn starch is a common food ingredient, used in thickening sauces or soups, and in making corn syrup and other sugars
- Name of Plant: Corn
20. Corn Flour
- Corn Flour should not be confused with Corn Starch.
- Corn Flour is made from the entire kernel, whereas Corn Starch is extracted from the endosperm in the kernel.
- This flour is available in a yellow and white version.
- Both varieties are gluten-free.
- Yellow Corn Flour is often combined with wheat flour to reduce the overall.
- Dishes: Corn Flour Biscuit, Corn Flour Butter Cake, etc.
- Name of Plant: Corn
21. Potato Flour
- It is made from dried potatoes
- It is a carbohydrate-based thickener with little protein, useful for people who have to avoid gluten flours.
- Dishes: It is used primarily for making commercial potato bread in combination with plain or strong flour or as a thickener for soups, gravies, and Chinese stir fry dishes.
- Name of Plant: Potato.
22. Almond Flour
- Made by blanching almonds in boiling water to remove the skins, then grinding and sifting them into a fine flour.
- Gluten-free flour
- To replace wheat flour with almond flour, start by replacing the flour 1:1 and then add more of a rising agent (like baking powder or baking soda) to accommodate the heavier weight of the almond flour.
- Dishes: Fondant, Cookies, Muffins, Pancakes, Biscuits, and Bread
- Name of Plant: Almond.
