Chinese Rock Sugar© Denzil Green
Chinese Rock Sugar is irregular lumps of crystallized, refined sugar.
It is an opaque, gold-coloured sugar that comes in comes in irregularly-shaped lumps of varying sizes that you have to whack before using.
The crystals can be up to 2 1/2 cm (1 inch) wide.
It has a clear taste, with no caramel tones. It is not as sweet as regular white granulated sugar. Because it’s less sweet, it doesn’t overwhelm the flavour of tea as much as white sugar can.
To make it, sugar cane is cooked until it just starts to colour.
Kwangtung Province in China is known for its production of Chinese Rock Sugar.
It is sold in bags or boxes.
Cooking Tips
Rock Sugar
© Denzil Green
Chinese Rock Sugar is used marinades, sauces, soups and in tea, and in poultry dishes in northern China. It can also be used to decorate cakes.
You can grind it down in a mortar or pestle to make a finer sugar.
It dissolves in water, though it will take a while.
Substitutes
For each sugar crystal called for, swap in 1 tablespoon white granulated sugar.