In modern cooking, there are quite a few different recipes that use fairly rare ingredients. Moreover, one often has to face the fact that the ingredient is not so rare, but it is not produced in the country, which means that the price will be quite high. One such product is corn syrup.
It is often used in cooking as a thickener, and its anti-crystallization properties and the complete absence of smell make it practically indispensable. It is also worth noting that often corn syrup is added to products so that they retain their freshness longer and acquire a more enriched taste.
It is worth noting that there are two types of syrup that differ from each other in color. They are divided into light, which is corn syrup, and dark, which is already caramel.
The process of preparing this syrup is quite complicated. It is based on the special processing of corn using sugar with the direct participation of sulfuric acid. Such a process completely excludes the possibility of preparing this product at home, which means that it remains only to purchase it or to find a substitute.
On a large scale, corn syrup is produced mainly in the United States. There it is used as a substitute for cane syrup and is often used to make sweets or other confectionery. In our country, the production of this product is limited. In fact, we can say that it is absent. Therefore, in search of where to buy corn starch or syrup, many come to the conclusion that they are best purchased on order, then they can be bought before the expiration date.
However, there are times when there is no way to get corn syrup, and its presence in the dish is simply necessary. To do this, you can use a kind of substitute, which has almost all of its properties, but it is easily prepared at home. This substitute is the invert syrup, known to most housewives.
To prepare it you will need:
- sugar - 350 g;
- hot water - 155 ml;
- 1.5 g of baking soda;
- 2 g of citric acid.
First you need to dissolve the sugar in water and add citric acid there. After this, put the mixture in a pan, covered with a lid, on fire. At the same time, some cooks believe that it will be more correct to add citric acid only after boiling.
Boil the syrup for about 40 minutes, and after cooking, let it cool. After that, soda dissolved in a spoon of water is added to the syrup . As a result of this compound, a lot of foam is formed. When she gets off, the syrup will be ready. It must be used after complete cooling.
Thus, it is rather difficult to acquire corn syrup, but almost everyone can prepare invert as a substitute. In addition, it will be much cheaper, and in some cases even much better.