gelatin.) The tightly ordered clusters of
amylose molecules require higher
temperatures, more water, and more cooking
time to be pulled and kept apart than do the
looser clusters of amylopectin molecules.
This is why long-grain Chinese rices are made
with more water than short-grain Japanese
rices.
Cooling Reorganizes Starch Molecules and
Firms Granules Once the cooking is finished
and the seeds cool down below the gelation
temperature, the starch molecules begin to re-
form some clusters with pockets of water in
between, and the soft, gelated starch granules
begin to firm up again. This process is called
retrogradation. The simpler amylose
molecules start bonding to each other again
almost immediately, and finish within a few
hours at room or refrigerator temperatures.
Sprawling, bushy amylopectin molecules take
a day or more to reassociate, and form