1.
arrowroot starch; kudzu starch; kuzu powder
A fine white starch extracted from the root of the kudzu plant (葛). Used as a thickener in Japanese cooking and as the base for traditional sweets. Prized for the smooth, glossy texture it gives to sauces and desserts.
くず粉でとろみをつける。
To thicken with kuzu starch.
くず粉を水で溶いてから鍋に入れる。
Dissolve the kuzu starch in water before adding it to the pot.
本くず粉は値段が高いが、仕上がりの食感がまったく違う。
Pure kuzu starch is expensive, but the resulting texture is completely different.
The starch is extracted from the root of 葛 (kudzu/arrowroot vine, Pueraria montana). Written as くず粉 or 葛粉. The くず portion is often written in hiragana.
COMMON COLLOCATIONS:
- くず粉を溶く: to dissolve kuzu starch (in water)
- 本くず粉: pure kudzu starch (100% kudzu, not blended)
- くず粉でとろみをつける: to thicken with kuzu starch
- 吉野くず: Yoshino kuzu — the most famous producing region
SIMILAR WORDS:
- 片栗粉: potato starch — the everyday thickening starch in Japanese kitchens; cheaper and more common
- コーンスターチ: cornstarch — another thickener, used mainly in Western-style cooking
- 葛: kudzu (the plant) — the source of the starch
CULTURAL CONTEXT:
くず粉 is essential for traditional 和菓子 (Japanese sweets) such as 葛切り (kuzu noodles served chilled with brown sugar syrup), 葛餅 (kuzu mochi), and 葛湯 (a warm, soothing drink made by dissolving kuzu starch in hot water, traditionally given to people with colds). 吉野 in 奈良県 is the most renowned production area. True 本くず粉 (pure kudzu starch) is expensive, so many commercial products are blends with 甘薯 (sweet potato) starch.