What is black sugar?
Black sugar is a common ingredient in Asian cooking, but when I show black sugar to my Western guests. They very often ask “is that brown sugar?”
Black sugar is healthier and more tasty than white processed sugar; brown sugar has a few of the benefits of black sugar, but really isn't as good.
It can look quite similar to brown sugar, but black sugar is even darker - almost black. Black sugar is popular in Taiwan. Compared to processed sugar, which has a very flat, characterless taste, black sugar is 'round', with a lot more flavor.
Unlike processed sugar, black sugar contains molasses, plus potassium, iron, calcium and other minerals.
Many Western women like to eat chocolate for comfort during their period, but Japanese women like to eat black sugar. For Taiwanese women, eating black sugar during their period is also a very common custom, probably because Taiwan is a former colony of Japan. They really eat pieces of sugar like it's candy.
Actually, the minerals like iron and calcium do help ease the tension and discomfort of a woman's period. Of course the calories of the black sugar do produce a lot of energy for this difficult time too.
Compare it to a cup of hot chocolate on a winter's day. Ginger and black sugar tea is a popular drink in almost every part of China. Apart from warming up the body, ginger tea also helps to cure colds.
Similar to sea salt or rock salt, black sugar is also a relatively alkaline ingredient. Instead of using processed salt or sugar, it will give our health more nutritional benefits.
If I need to add any sugar to my coffee or tea, I would rather choose black sugar than processed sugar.
Where to buy black sugar?
You should be able to find black sugar in Asian (Chinese or Japanese) markets and supermarkets. The English product labels are often wrongly translated, but if you can see the Chinese / Kanji characters for black sugar, you should be getting the right thing - the image here shows these characters as they appear on a product. If the product has nutritional information, then high iron, calcium and mineral content is another sign of real black sugar. You can also buy black sugar online, for example at Amazon: here and here. These are sponsored links.
Comments
I'm very interested in this
I'm very interested in this black sugar, but have no idea what it looks like. Would you be able to post a picture of it up?
xx
I live in Japan. I use only
I live in Japan. I use only black sugar as sweetener. Send me your address and I will send you a pack of 350 gm. My email is harrison354@hotmail.com
@Harrison354@hotmail.com I
@Harrison354@hotmail.com
I live in the United States, I've been trying to find black sugar to use in a natural remedy to quit smoking, I have been looking for quite a while now, if you could send me 350gm of black sugar it would be very much appreciated, I will send you an email with my address, pleas reply with a response as to whether or not you could send it to my address.
Thank you
- Seth
Please say more about
Please say more about it:
Where is it produced? How is it produced? Where to buy? Price?
Okinawa in Japan is famous
Okinawa in Japan is famous for producing black sugar, and Taiwan and China are both producing their own black sugar too.
It's made from the whole sugar cane plant - a very traditional way of producing sugar.
It's available in most of the supermarkets in Taiwan, Japan, and China. In the West, it should be sold in Asian stores.
Black sugar usually costs more than twice the price of refined sugar.
I received an email from
I received an email from friend, says that using old ginger + black sugar boiling and drink it twice everyday, day and night, can easily reduce weight, is it true? But it doesn't mentioned how much ginger and how much black sugar to be using.... as i am very keen to drink this to have weight lost. Thanks.
Black sugar and ginger
Black sugar and ginger tea
2. Drink it 5 days before your period, and during the period. It helps to ease discomfort.
3. Black sugar is sugar, it doesn't help you lose weight. But ginger helps.
What is "aged ginger"? I
What is "aged ginger"? I can't find any infomation on that.
Aged ginger is darker color,
Aged ginger is darker color, and the skin is very dry. It's about 3 to 6 months old.
Young ginger is pale, and not dry.
I hope this helps, please let me know if you need to know more.
Jodie
You can also buy this
You can also buy this prepackaged. The brand is called "Healthy Hot Ginger Tea with Black Sugar, " and you just add hot water. While I'm sure it can be found in Japanese/Asian Food Markets, I recently purchased from Japan through jlist.com (note: this site gives you a warning at the beginning, if you don't want to see naughty stuff then click on the "under 18" option which will direct you to jbox.com).
FYI: I found an Okinawa
FYI: I found an Okinawa Black Sugar Brick at Amazon.com.
it's also available in ranch
it's also available in ranch 99 these days. They come in small packets. The pieces in the packets are small nuggets of black sugar (so, don't look for a powdery type of substance.)
never thought there was
never thought there was something like black sugar.
Is the black sugar filling of
Is the black sugar filling of Chinese pastries (as in bun, pie crust) made of 'black sugar' that is being referred here?
Yes, that should normally be
Yes, that should normally be the same kind of black sugar
Thanks so much for the info!
Thanks so much for the info! I'm living in Buenos Aires, Argentina and I stumbled upon black sugar for the first time over the weekend! I made pecan pies which came out KILLER. Definitely wont be the last and I'm THRILLED to see that it's beneficial to the body especially since I'm a bit of a white sugar hater.
www.NOLAchef.wordpress.com
I moved to Penghu in Taiwan
I moved to Penghu in Taiwan about 5 months ago and was offered a cup at Chinese New Year. I've been drinking it since. Mine is infused with all sorts of spices that I cannot identify but love. Makes my house smell like Christmas whenever I boil up a new batch.
That's interesting. Do you
That's interesting. Do you know what the tea is called?
Molasses and black sugar are
Molasses and black sugar are the same thing?
for weight loss, black sugar
for weight loss, black sugar enzyme tea is very good, its a mix of enzymes with green tea and black sugar,
i live in indonesia and have learnt how to make this tea and it works.... just email me ajhchina@gmail.com
Not just an Asian ingredient.
Not just an Asian ingredient. I just finished reading "The Lady in the Palazza: at Home in Umbria" by Marlena DiBlasi (also wrote A Thousand
Days In Venice and a Thousand Days in Tuscany). She is an excellent cook and writes about the food in Italy. Several times she
menitoned black sugar. I had not heard of it, so I came to the internet to find out. She also uses it to sweeten drinks and in
cooking.
Thanks for sharing the
Thanks for sharing the information.
In Argentina black sugar
In Argentina black sugar coated pastry has been common for many years, and it tastes great!!!! In the US black sugar has a weird name. Muscovado it's called. It is high in molasses, unrefined pure sugar( which is burnt sugar canes). It has vitamins and minerals.
I know black sugar, it taste
I know black sugar, it taste quite different from any raw sugar/ brown sugar like Demerara. So natural unrefined cane sugar are healthier choice... But is black sugar much better than these brown sugar?
It depends on your taste and
It depends on your taste and what you are making. In Japan, they even have black sugar soy sauce.
I think black sugar generally contains more minerals than brown sugar.
Are molasses and black sugar
Are molasses and black sugar same thing? After reading so much health benefits about molasses, I bought a bottle of organic molassess from whole food, it tastes like black sugar in Taiwan or Japan to me. I am original from Asia, lives in the us for the past 30 years.
I can find lots material about how molasses are made on web, but could't find any about how black sugar are made, can anybody comment on that?
Hi. I read from an apple cake
Hi.
I read from an apple cake recipe that white sugar can be replaced with brown sugar.
But I am wondering if now I can use black sugar instead of brown sugar for baking this apple cake?
Sure, you can use black sugar
Sure, you can use black sugar instead of brown sugar.
Thanks for a short and sweet
Thanks for a short and sweet explanation! I am writing and illustrating a book now about Ishigaki Island Japan's Satou-kibi sugarcane fields. I want to include some facts about white vs black sugar, along with some facts about diabetes and other sugar-related diseases present in countries, japan vs taiwan vs america, for example..
Anyway, thanks a bunch, and if you have any more info you think might be useful in my research, please send me an email! jmuzacz@gmail.com
I am wondering whether black
I am wondering whether black sugar the same as blackstrap molasses? It is just that black sugar is in crystal form while the molasses is in liquid form. Is this right?
Thank you for the question.
Thank you for the question. Actually, in my experience, the blackstrap molasses tastes sweet but bitter. Black sugar is sweet but not bitter. So, I think black sugar is not the same as blackstrap molasses.
As far as I know, blackstrap molasses is the by-product of producing sugar from sugar cane, but black sugar is not a by-product in the same way, so maybe that explains the difference.
1) does black sugar come in
1) does black sugar come in other form other than brick? I find it hard to break up.
2) I was told it's also produced in Taiwan. Anyone know where or what city?
3) Labeling issue - i see that in chinese it says 'black sugar' while the english label still says BRown Sugar.
I guess if it's not the blackest one, it is not black sugar...
Thanks for your very
1. Sometimes the black sugar is in powder form, but brick style is also very common.
2. There are many areas in Taiwan that produce black sugar.
3. If the label says in Chinese "黑糖" ("black sugar"), then it should be correct.
4. The colour of black sugar should be very dark.
If you are in Hawaii, you can
If you are in Hawaii, you can visit the Annual Okinawan Festival held Labor Day weekend. We have about 8 different flavors of kokuto in the Heiwa Dori tent. Most are the brick form, but there is one item that is a fine granular powder.
Why don't our Australian
Why don't our Australian sugar mills produce black sugar?
Origato! I couldn't find
Origato! I couldn't find anything about black sugar anywhere; I thought the animation company who'd invented 'Yumeiro Patissiere' had made it up!
Where can I get black sugar
Where can I get black sugar in the Uk please ?
This is great!!! My mom uses
This is great!!! My mom uses black sugar because she's diabetic and all those packet sugars are loaded with bad stuff like Equal, etc.. I have a question?
Can you bake with black sugar instead of using white? Can I just stop using white all together for baking??
Thank you!!!!
Sure, you can use black sugar
Sure, you can use black sugar in stead of white sugar. But the color might make the baked food very dark.
My grandma used to make black
My grandma used to make black sugar mixed with warm water (drink) for me when I had tummy problems such as gastric or indigestion. It always helped. :)
Until now I still rely on the same formula of one cube of sugar per cup.
P.S. So glad to have found this blog post!
In Bangladesh extract of
In Bangladesh extract of sugar is called 'Gur'. It is from sugarcane. It is also very useful with hot water and ginger. Black sugar from Japan tastes like 'Gur'.
what is the difference
what is the difference between black sugar and the jaggery that is sold in India as 'Gur' or 'Gud' in local laguages? It seems to be the same.
Thanks.
Anyway, in malaysia its
Anyway, in malaysia its called 'gula melaka'.
Gula melaka and black sugar
Gula melaka and black sugar are different, gula melaka is made from coconut palm, and black sugar is made from sugar cane.
They taste differently too. I like them both.
Can use black sugar or gur
Can use black sugar or gur with apple cider venegar or regular venegarmixed very dark sliced banana keep it refregsrator two soup spoon daily two time after meal it low bloodsugar
Is this the reciepe for the
Is this the reciepe for the weight loss brine?as well?
black sugar and gur r d same
black sugar and gur r d same thing directly made from sugar cane juice without losing any of its nutritional benefits.
In pakistan n india it is a
In pakistan n india it is a very common thing to b used also called jaggery in english.
many a times special dishes r made with it like gur chawal(jaggery added to rice 2 make a sweet dish).
Hello, i was interested in
Hello, i was interested in black sugar so i found your blog (i hope your active). I boght black sugar in a asian store how you wrote and asked there. There were brown and black sugar so i thought it was right and bought it. But at home i looked and yout blog again. And i think i broght the wrong sugar. It has the same chinese writing like in the picture above but in the middle is another chinese word but i dont know what it means. So i looked at the ingredenzs and there is written that it doesnt have any calzium or any minerals etc. So can you say if it is right or not. I hope my describtion helps i am sorry but i dont know how to downlod a picture and sorry for my english
Possibly the packaging may
Possibly the packaging may not mention minerals, even if they are included. If you could email a photo, we could tell you the meaning of the label. The email address is on our contact page.
Jodie
Make a comment