Erythronium japonicum

Taxobox
name = Katakuri

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image_width = 260px
regnum = Plantae
divisio = Magnoliophyta
classis = Liliopsida
subclassis = Liliidae
ordo = Liliales
familia = Liliaceae
genus = "Erythronium"
species = "E. japonicum"
binomial = "Erythronium japonicum"
binomial_authority = Decne.

Katakuri ("Erythronium japonicum"; Japanese: 片栗) is a species of lily native to Japan, Korea and northeastern China.

Uses

Katakuri starch, or "katakuriko" (Japanese: 片栗粉), is a starch originally processed from the corm of katakuri. Despite having kuri (栗), lit. chestnut, as part of the word, it is not processed from chestnuts, but from the corm of this lily.

Katakuriko is now often processed from potatoes, which are much cheaper, as true katakuriko is now quite costly and is rarely available in stores.

Katakuriko is often used as a sauce thickener. It may also be used to make tempura, especially when a need to quickly fry ingredients arises because the normal cooking process could damage them through too much heat.

Additional photos