Grain Products Category

Grain Products
Includes flour, noodles, and dough.
fedelini, fidelini
fedelini
These Italian pasta rods are just a bit thicker than vermicelli. They're usually served with a very light sauce, or broken up and served in a broth.
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fettuccine, fettuccelli, fettucci, fettucine
fettuccine
Fettuccine noodles are long, relatively thick ribbons of pasta. A narrower version is called fettuccelli, while a wider one is called fettucci. Egg fettucine goes well with cream sauces.
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fideos
fideos
Mexican and Spanish cooks use these short, curved strands of pasta in soups.
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fig leaf
fig leaf
These are great for wrapping delicately flavored foods before grilling them.
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Filipino noodles, pancit
Filipino noodles
In their soups and stir-fries, Filipinos like to use pancit canton, yellow noodles made of wheat flour and coconut oil. Slippery cornstarch noodles (called pancit luglug), are used in soups and salads.
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flavored pasta, colorata, colored pasta, green pasta, orange pasta
flavored pasta
Several manufacturers make flavored pastas, many of which have vibrant colors. Popular flavors include egg (egg pasta, or pasta all'uovo), spinach (green pasta, or pasta verde), tomato, beet (purple pasta, or pasta viola), carrot (red pasta, or pasta rossa), winter squash (orange pasta, or pasta arancione), squid ink (black pasta, or pasta nera), truffle (truffle pasta, or pasta al tartufo), and chile.
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flour tortilla, burrito tortillas, fajita tortillas
flour tortilla
These thin flour wraps from northern Mexico are used to make burritos, chimichangas, fajitas and other Mexican dishes. They're more pliable than corn tortillas, so they're a good choice if you need to roll or fold the tortillas before cooking them. Flour tortillas come in different sizes, including small, thick "fajita tortillas" to large, thin "burrito tortillas."
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fregola, fregula
fregola
This Sardinian specialty is thought to be an ancestor of modern pasta. It consists of small, chewy balls made from coarsely ground semolina. It can be used as a bed for sauces, but it's also terrific in soups.
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funghini
These tiny pasta shapes look like mushrooms and are usually served in a broth or very light soup. A larger version called funghetti works well in thicker soups.
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fusilli, corkscrew pasta, pasta twists
fusilli
This is a type of Italian pasta that's shaped like either like screws or springs. This is a good choice for pasta salads and casseroles, or for serving with hearty, thick sauces. A long version of the spring-shaped fusilli is called fusilli col buco.
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fusilli col buco, fusilli bucati lunghi
fusilli col buco
This is a long version of the spring-shaped fusilli.
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garganelli
garganelli
With its quill shapes, this type of Italian egg pasta resembles penne. It's often served with a simple meat sauce.
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gari
gari
This Nigerian flour is made from cassavas that have been fermented, roasted, and ground. Look for it in African markets.
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gelatin, animal jelly, gelatine, unflavored gelatin, unflavored gelatine
gelatin
Gelatin is flavorless and colorless, and if you dissolve it in a hot liquid, the liquid will gel as it cools. When reheated, say in your mouth, the gel melts. Most of us know gelatin as the key ingredient in the quivering dessert we call Jell-O®, but cooks also use it to make cheesecakes, mousses, marshmallows, meringues, chiffon pies, ice cream, nougats, aspics, and many other things. Gelatin will break down if exposed to the enzymes of certain raw fruits, like kiwi fruit, papayas, pineapple, peaches, mangos, guavas, and figs. Cooking these fruits, though, destroys the enzymes. If you plan to add these fruits to a gelatin salad, it's often easiest to buy them in cans, for all canned fruit is pre-cooked. Gelatin is made from the bones, skins, hooves, and connective tissue of animals, including pigs, so it's objectionable to vegetarians and members of certain religions. Kosher gelatins are available, and some of these are also vegetarian.
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gelatin dessert mix, jello mix, Jell-O® mix, jelly mix
gelatin dessert mix
This is a powdered mixture of gelatin, sweetener, and artificial fruit flavoring that's used to make a molded, translucent, quivering dessert that Americans call jello. People in Britain, Australia, and New Zealand call this dessert "jelly," and use the word "jam" for the preserved fruit spread that Americans call jelly.
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gemelli
gemelli
The name means "twins" in Italian. These are short rods twisted together in a spiral pattern. They're great with any sauce, or in pasta salads or casseroles.
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gigli, campanelle, riccioli
gigli
This Italian pasta consists of flower shapes (gigli is Italian for "lilies"). It's good with heart, chunky sauces.
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glace, chicken glace, demi-glac, fish glace, glace de poisson, glace de poulet
glace
A glace is a meat or fish stock that's been cooked for many, many hours until it's thick and rich with flavor. French cooks add dollops of it to their sauces at the last minute to thicken them and boost their flavor. You can make a glace yourself or buy it ready-made, but count on paying dearly with either time or money. There are several varieties, including glace de viande (also called meat glace or meat jelly), glace de poisson (fish glace), glace de poulet (chicken glace), and glace de veau (veal glace). A demi-glace is made the same way as a glace, but it's not as thick.
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gluten flour, instant gluten flour, pure gluten flour, vital wheat gluten
gluten flour
This is flour with the starch and bran removed. Don't confuse it with bread flour (high-gluten flour), which is gluten-fortified flour, or with gluten (seitan), a meat analogue used in vegetarian dishes. Pure gluten flour is usually added to regular flour to turn it into bread flour, or it's used to make seitan.
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gluten-free flours
gluten-free flours
Gluten is what makes wheat-based bread dough so sticky and elastic. This helps the dough hold in the air bubbles created by the yeast so that it will rise and eventually bake into a fluffy, porous loaf. If you're gluten-intolerant, though, you'll need to use gluten-free flour, along with an arsenal of ingredients to make it behave like it has gluten.
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gnocchetti
gnocchetti
Gnocchetti is an Italian pasta made to look like gnocchi, the popular potato dumplings. Gnocchetti, though, contains no potatoes. To confuse matters, a larger version of gnocchetti is also called gnocchi. Both sizes are good with thick sauces.
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gnocchi
gnocchi
Gnocchi are Italian dumplings made from potatoes and other ingredients. They work best with light sauces, so as to showcase the pasta's subtle flavor and texture.
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gomiti
gomiti
Gomiti is Italian for "elbow," and this pasta shape is like elbow macaroni, only it's bent more. Use it in pasta dishes with chunky sauces, pasta salads, or macaroni and cheese.
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gook soo, gougsou, kooksoo
gook soo
A staple of Korea, these flat wheat noodles resemble fettuccine. They're usually served in a soup.
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grape leaves, grape vine leaves, vine leaves
grape leaves
Greeks stuff these with ground lamb and rice to make dolmades, but they're used elsewhere to make pickles and beds for food. They're hard to find fresh in markets, but you can often find them in cans or jars. Trim the stems and rinse off the brine before using. To make your own: Plunge grape leaves (that haven't been sprayed with harmful chemicals) for one minute in boiling, salted water (2 teaspoons pickling salt per quart), then drain.
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grattoni
This egg pasta consists of tiny diamond shapes. It's used in broths and light soups.
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gyoza wrappers, gyoza skins
gyoza wrappers
The Japanese use these round wrappers to make pork-stuffed dumplings similar to Chinese potstickers. Western cooks sometimes use them to make ravioli.
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harusame, harusame sai fun, harusame saifun, Japanese vermicelli
harusame
These thin, translucent Japanese noodles are typically made with potato, sweet potato, rice, or mung bean starch. They're similar to Chinese bean threads.
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hazelnut flour, filbert flour
hazelnut flour
This is ground from the cake that remains after the oil is pressed from hazelnuts. This is hard to find, but you can order it from Baker's Find (1-800-966-BAKE) or online from from King Arthur Flour.
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hazelnut meal, filbert meal, ground filberts, ground hazelnuts
hazelnut meal
This is used to make cookies and other desserts.
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hiyamugi
hiyamugi
These slender Japanese noodles are often served cold. They're made of wheat flour.
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Hokkien noodles
Hokkien noodles
These egg and wheat-flour noodles are popular in Malaysia and Singapore. They look like thick yellow spaghetti.
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Hong Kong noodles, Hong Kong-style noodles
Hong Kong noodles
These egg and wheat-flour noodles are used to make chow mein. Cook them first in boiling water, drain, and then fry.
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Indonesian noodles, mi, mie
Indonesian noodles
Indonesians like to use bean threads (which they call su un), and rice vermicelli. They also use egg and wheat-flour noodles to make bami goreng, a fried noodle dish.
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Instant Clearjel, Clear-jel, ClearJel® starch
Instant Clearjel
This is a modified cornstarch that professional bakers sometimes use to thicken pie fillings. It has several advantages over ordinary cornstarch. Instant ClearJel® thickens without cooking, works well with acidic ingredients, tolerates high temperatures, is freezer-stable, and doesn't cause pie fillings to weep" during storage. Don't use Instant ClearJel® for canning--it tends to break down.
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Instant flour, instant-blending flour, instantized flour, quick-mixing flour
Instant flour
You can mix this granular all-purpose flour into liquids without getting many lumps, so it's perfect for making gravies and batters. It's also good for breading fish. Wondra flour and Shake & Blend are popular brands.
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instant tapioca, granulated tapioca, instant pearl tapioca, quick tapioca
instant tapioca
These small, starchy granules are used to make tapioca pudding and to thicken pie fillings. The grains don't dissolve completely when cooked, so puddings and pies thickened with them end up studded with tiny gelatinous balls. If you don't mind the balls, you can also use instant tapioca to thicken soups, gravies, and stews. If the balls are a problem, just pulverize the instant tapioca in a coffee grinder or blender, or buy tapioca starch, which is already finely ground. Instant tapioca tolerates prolonged cooking and freezing, and gives the fillings an attractive glossy sheen. To use it in a pie filling, mix it with the other ingredients, then let it sit for at least five minutes so that the tapioca can absorb some of the liquid. Don't confuse instant tapioca with regular tapioca, which has larger beads, or with the even larger tapioca pearls sold in Asian markets. Minute® tapioca is a well-known brand.
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isinglass
isinglass
This gelatin comes from the air bladders of sturgeon and other fish. It's sometimes used to clarify wine.
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Japanese noodles, menrui
Japanese noodles
The Japanese like to serve noodles in soups and salads. It's customary to make loud slurping sounds when eating noodle soup, though younger Japanese are rebelling and eating more quietly. Kishimen, udon, hiyamugi, ramen, chuka soba, and somen are all wheat noodles, while soba is made from buckwheat, shirataki from yams, and harusame from mung bean or other starches.
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kadaif, kataifi, knafeh, konafa, konafah, shredded fillo dough
kadaif
Cooks in Greece and the Middle East use this shredded dough to make sweet desserts. You can find it among the frozen foods in Middle Eastern and Greek markets. While working with it, cover any unused dough with a damp cloth.
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kamut flour
kamut flour
Kamut flour is tolerated by many people with wheat allergies and is a good substitute for wheat when making bread and pasta, especially if it's combined with other flours (e.g., spelt flour).
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kamut®  pasta
kamut pasta
Kamut® contains gluten, but it's tolerated by many people with gluten allergies.
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kishimen
kishimen
These are flat and slippery Japanese wheat noodles. They're served both hot and cold.
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Korean buckwheat noodles, naeng myun, naengmyon
Korean buckwheat noodles
These Korean noodles are made with buckwheat flour and potato starch. They're usually served cold, but sometimes added to soups. Boil the noodles for about 3 to 4 minutes before using.
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Korean noodles, myun
Korean noodles
Korean sweet potato vermicelli (which they call tang myon) is very slender, and has a somewhat rubbery texture. Korean buckwheat noodles are also chewy, and usually served cold. Koreans are also fond of rice sticks and Chinese egg noodles.
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