USE OF FLOUR

The use of flour when shaping meatballs or thickening gravy is termed Ch'ien(芡).Sometimes a coating of flour is added to meat destined for frying to prevent it from being too easily overdone. Paper has been known to replace flour for the same purpose. Bean flour (豆粉) or caltrop flour (菱粉) are commonly employed by Chinese. Cornflour (corn starch) is equally good for this purpose.