Rock sugar is refined, crystalized sugar used in Chinese kitchen to add shine to braised dishes or to sweeten desserts.
Rock sugar (or rock candy) is refined, crystalized sugar in small cubes or in irregular lumps. Lightly transparent, its colour can be white or light yellow. Compare to regular sugar, it has a milder taste, that is to say, it’s less sweet.
In Chinese cuisine, rock sugar is commonly used in both savoury and sweet dishes. It’s often called for in making braised dishes (i.e. Red cooked pork belly) to give meat a shiny glaze.
You will also find rock sugar in Chinese dessert recipes, such as Birds nest with rock sugar (冰糖燕窝) and Pear with rock sugar (冰糖雪梨). In Northern China, a popular street snack called Bingtang Hulu (冰糖葫芦, literal translation: rock sugar bottle gourd) is also made with rock sugar.
Apart from cooking, rock sugar is used to sweeten some Chinese tea. As you may know, Chinese tea, such as green tea, jasmine tea, Oolong tea, white tea, Pu-erh tea etc., is prepared without sugar.
However, rock sugar is often required in brewing Chinese tea like Chrysanthemum tea (菊花茶) and San Pao Tai (三泡台, a popular tea drink from Gansu, my home province).
In addition, rock sugar is considered to be an ingredient in traditional Chinese medicine. It is believed to have medicinal properties, particularly in easing sore throat and dry cough caused by the common cold.
It is widely available in Chinese shops and in some Asian stores. If you have difficulty finding it you may replace it with regular granulated sugar if clearly stated in my recipes.
I usually use the white rock sugar but ran into what looks like light brown blocks of hard sugar. are they used differently. are they interchangeble
Yes, they’re interchangeable. Rock sugar with a light brown/yellow colour is a little less refined.
Hi.
Is there any way to make these types of rock sugars at home? I really like to try to making it at home, if you have recipe, I’d be thankful 🙂
Sorry Quirke! I have no idea how to make it from scratch.
Is palm sugar an ok substitute for rock sugar?
Yes you can use palm sugar as a substitute.
Hello
Has the rock sugar got saffron inside to make it yellow or do they use just yellow food colouring.
Janice
It’s neither saffron nor food colouring. Some rock sugar appears to be yellow because it’s not highly purified and processed as the regular white sugar is.
Red cooked pork belly: Is it possible without sugar
Yes! You can braise pork belly the same way without sugar. It won’t be considered as classic Red Cooked Pork but it will be yummy too.