Guar gum

Gomme de guar

What it is

The powder is the milled endosperm of a drought-hardy desert bean grown mostly in Rajasthan, which supplies something like four-fifths of the world's guar. Its price is set less by kitchens than by oil fields — shale fracturing fluid runs on the same gum, and when American drilling boomed the bean briefly became India's largest agricultural export to the United States.

In the kitchen

It hydrates in cold water with no heat at all and thickens up to eight times harder than starch, so weigh it at 0.1 to 0.3% of the liquid. Past that a sauce turns slick and slimy rather than thick, and the only repair is dilution.

Goes with

Cream Yogurt Coconut milk Vanilla White sugar Strawberry Buttermilk Dark chocolate

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