Functional starch powder of 400% or more water retention capacity, 5 hr or more collapse time and 200 g or more gel indentation load. This functional starch powder is produced through the step of heating a starch raw material in the presence of water at 60 to 150° C. so as to swell starch particles of the starch raw material and the subsequent step of drying the thus swollen starch particles so as to obtain a powder mixture comprising starch particles and, lying in the exterior thereof, amylose and amylopectin.
