The market · Seasonings and ferments · East Asia

Rock sugar

Crystallised, unrefined cane sugar in pale yellow lumps. Its clean, mellow sweetness gives red-braised dishes their glaze without tasting sugary.

clean · mellow sweet

What to do with it

Classics built on it
TeochewTeochew braised gooseA whole goose simmered in a dark, spiced master stock of soy, galangal and rock sugar, sliced thin and served with garlic vinegar.No one here has made it yetTeochewKway chapWide, flat rice sheets in a dark soy broth, with a plate of braised pork, offal, tofu and eggs from the lou pot.No one here has made it yetHunanChairman Mao's red-braised porkCubes of pork belly braised slowly with caramelised sugar, Shaoxing wine, chilli and spices until glossy, deep red and meltingly soft.No one here has made it yetHuaiyangWuxi spare ribsPork ribs braised slowly in soy, rice wine and plenty of sugar until they're falling-tender and coated in a dark, sticky, sweet glaze.No one here has made it yetFujianBuddha jumps over the wallA banquet soup of abalone, sea cucumber, fish maw, scallops, meats and mushrooms, sealed in a jar with rice wine and simmered for hours.No one here has made it yetFujianSweet peanut soupPeeled peanuts simmered until they're soft enough to melt, in a light, sweet, milky-looking broth.No one here has made it yet

If you can't find it

Chinese grocers, in yellow lumps.

  1. 1Sugar
    A little less white sugar
    You lose some of the gloss, and the rounder sweetness.

Goes with

soy saucepork bellystar aniseShaoxing wine

Knowing it

Where to buy
Chinese grocers, in bags of irregular lumps. Ordinary sugar works, but the gloss isn't quite the same.
Worth knowing
Smash big lumps in a bag with a rolling pin, and let it melt slowly in the braise.

Kitchens that keep it in

Guangdong and Hong Kong, southern ChinaCantoneseThe cooking of Guangzhou and Hong Kong: very fresh things cooked briefly and seasoned lightly, so they taste of themselves.11 classicsChaoshan, the far east of Guangdong, southern ChinaTeochewThe cooking of Chaozhou and Shantou on the coast of eastern Guangdong: seafood, clear broths and slow master-stock braises, each dish with its own little dip.7 classicsJiangsu province and the lower Yangtze, eastern ChinaHuaiyangDelicate and exact: fine knife work, clear stocks and a gentle sweetness, cooked to bring out an ingredient's own flavour rather than to cover it.7 classicsShanghai, on the Yangtze delta, eastern ChinaShanghaineseSweet, dark and glossy: a port city's home cooking, red-braised in soy, sugar and Shaoxing wine, with soup dumplings, cold 'drunken' dishes and hairy crab in autumn.7 classicsZhejiang province, eastern ChinaZhejiangFresh, mellow and gently sweet: lake fish and river shrimp, young bamboo, cured ham and a good deal of Shaoxing wine, cooked to taste of themselves.7 classicsFujian province, south-eastern ChinaFujianThe cooking of China's south-eastern coast: clear soups, seafood, the sweet-sour red of fermented rice lees, and the street food the Hokkien carried across Asia.9 classicsAnhui province, eastern ChinaAnhuiMountain cooking from old Huizhou: bamboo shoots, mushrooms and cured things, braised long and dark, with a taste for the fermented — stinky fish and hairy tofu.8 classics

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