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Thankyou to those people who replied to my question about kudzu root starch.

This is what I found out:

Kudzu is used as a thickener. It is edible, but like all other thickeners I
know of it is pretty tasteless. It's from a vine (imported from the orient)
that grows rampant in the South and has become a very noxious weed. It is a
legume. You can also use it as a gelatin substitute.

Kudzu grows wild by the roadsides in the South. It was cultivated (from
some other country) years ago and grown to hold the soil and prevent
erosion. Since then, it's evident you can't stop the stuff! My father-in-law
detests it (in Georgia) and he cannot believe we cook with it!!

As far as I know kudzu is used in macrobiotic cooking to thicken things and
is therefore edible. It comes in white rock-like pellets

I don't know...but will it take over your kitchen?  ............ in
Tulsa where they discovered kudzu growing along the river bike trail
last summer.

I know it is an asian starch and used for thickening.  I have never heard it
used in any other way.  It is a plant that is in fact, a pest...it takes
over and chokes our streams and rivers, growing as much as a foot a day.

Kudzu is a perennial vine.  The roots are used in Chinese Traditional
medicine for treatment of many circulatory problems, high blood
pressure, dysentery, colitis, allergies, and diarrhea.

The starch of the roots can be used as a thickener, similar to corn
starch, or sweet rice flour.  It is very expensive (as far as thickening
agents go: about 5.00 for 2 or 3 ounces), so using enough starch to
produce a "taste" may be cost prohibitive.

I use it in a "sore tummy" porridge of left over brown rice, water
and Umeboshi plums.  I boil the mixture and then add kudzu root
starch diluted with water, cooking and stirring until thickened.


Thankyou again for taking the time to answer my query.

Lauren
in Japan