Are you just adding the cornstarch straight into your sauce, dry? That
might be your problem. When I use cornstarch to thicken, I put a heaping
teaspoon into a mug, then add about a half mug of COLD water. I then stir
with a spoon, using the back of the spoon to work out any lumps, though it
doesn't tend to lump much. I then pour the resulting mixture into my
(already hot) sauce, stirring constantly. Never had any problem with
cornstarch lumps on the sauce, and the sauce thickens nicely. Adjust your
thickening power by using more or less cornstarch in the mug, or by adding
more liquid if the sauce starts to thicken too much...
You can also use arrowroot (same directions as for cornstarch), though it's
a bit more "tender" than cornstarch, and doesn't have quite the thickening
power. Wheat flour also works (Dad used it for gravy for years, same
method -- flour and cold water into a glass jar with lid, shake to dissolve
(suspend?) the flour in the water, then pour into the hot gravy base --
never lumps in Dad's gravy!).
At 06:48 AM 4/25/01 -0500, you wrote:
Does anyone have any suggestions on how to "thicken" a sauce? I am a
vegan, so I have been trying to use things like corn starch, but every
time I try it, the corn starch is very lumpy and doesn't dissolve
well. When I can get it to dissolve, and there are no lumps, it doesn't
thicken! Does anyone have a better way or any good recipes?