Wheat starch is the starch washed out of wheat flour once its gluten has been removed — in fact it is the by-product of making vital wheat gluten. It gelatinizes at a low temperature into a soft, opaque gel, but its signature trick is culinary: cooked fully, it turns glassy and translucent, which is why it forms the see-through, chewy skins of Cantonese "crystal" dumplings such as har gow.
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