Is cornstarch the same as rice flour?
No. As their names suggest, cornstarch is made from corn, rice flour from rice. Both can be used for thickening sauces and binding, but cornflour (as we call it in Australian and British English) is easier to use and is faster for thickening sauces (e.g. in stir-fries). Rice flour is required in some baking, e.g. for texture in shortbread biscuits http://www.undiscoveredscotland.co.uk/us… , and is lovely boiled up as a pudding. I boiled rice flour with milk to make the first creams when introducing solids to my baby, as I did not want to use those instant powders (when I got detailed analysis from the manufacturers, the brand recommended by my paediatrician as ‘not as sweet as the others’ turned out to be 24% various sugars!) or jars. Rice flour is gluten free so it is useful for people with coeliac disease or just to prevent allergies (babies’ digestive systems may not be able to cope wi
