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kurozato/kokuto

torakris

By torakris
in Japan: Cooking & Baking

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torakris

torakris

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I have always enjoyed the kurozato/kokuto products you can find in Japan, mostly candies/cakes/etc. My recent addiction are some caramels I picked up (right side)

gallery_6134_184_1096973390.jpg

This wonderful product has sent me on a quest to learn more about this stuff. I have always seen bags of kurozato in the markets but am unsure of how to cook with it, especially that which is in the lump form. I just recently picked up a bag and I also picked up a bag of granulated can sugar that looked interesting.

gallery_6134_184_1097187041.jpg

the cane suagr (sato kibi) is on te left and kurozato is on the right

close ups

gallery_6134_184_1097187061.jpg

so do you cook with kurozato?

what are some of your favorite products?

I should also mention that kurozato is not only sold in this lump form, it is also sold in regular powdered form.

Kristin Wagner, aka "torakris"

 

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torakris

torakris

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from here http://www.joyofbaking.com/sugar.html

Raw Sugar is what is left after processing the sugar cane to remove the molasses and refine the white sugar. In North America raw sugar is actually not "raw" as it has been partially refined to remove any contaminants. The color is similar to light brown sugar but it's texture is grainier.

Demerara sugar is a raw sugar that has been purified. It comes from Guyana and is a dry, coarse-textured amber sugar that has a toffee-like flavor.

Muscovada or Barbados sugar is another raw sugar that has been purified. It has a finer grain that Demerara and very moist. Its color ranges from light to dark brown and it has a strong molasses taste.

Turbinado sugar is a raw sugar that has been steam cleaned. It is light brown in color and coarse grained, with a slight molasses flavor.

These are the types of "raw" sugar available in the US, but hehy aren't really used to the extent I see kurozato in Japan, and tehy are that lumpy stuff...

Kristin Wagner, aka "torakris"

 

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torakris

torakris

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Today Ifound this

gallery_6134_184_1097200708.jpg

the one on the left is called kokuto no brulee, so a black sugar brulee.

It tasted nothing remotely like brulee and I couldn't even detect a kokuto flavor, it was just white chocolate tasting, very dissapointing.

Kristin Wagner, aka "torakris"

 

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AmyDaniel

AmyDaniel

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The lump form of kurozato looks pretty similar to Indian jaggery...perhaps the regulars on the Indian cooking forum can give you some ideas on how to use it? (e.g. cakes/sweets made with jaggery that my mom doesn't make at home... :hmmm:)

Good luck!

Amy

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Phish

Phish

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I want to firstly appologize to Kristin for hijacking her food blog asking about Kurozato...:blush: I feel really bad... I decided to do it here so that i won't side track the blog again.:raz:

I also want to thank melonpan for the extensive research you did and for all the resourceful links!! :biggrin: Very helpful indeed... i'll go look for them again when i go shopping... im sure i saw the Morinaga ones..

Hiroyuki, thanks for your input on the kokutou and kurozato... but unfortunately, i can't read Japanese..

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melonpan

melonpan

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(bits reposted from <a href="http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showtopic=52858&st=0">torakris' most excellent foodblog ii</a>)

if you cant find those kurozato caramels (which i have not seen around me), you might satisfy your curiousity a little bit with these brown sugar hard candies from asahi called kokutou nodoame. they are quite delicious, which a nice molassasey kick... (they also taste ever so slightly minty with some honey flavour too. its really tasty!)

<center><img src="http://www.rawbw.com/~coconut/eg/04/041006kokutou.jpg"></center>

<a href="http://www.asahi-fh.com/hc/products/candy.html">asahi company's link to some of their candies</a>. on the page you can see the candies in bag form (under the mitsuya cider bag) and also in roll form as shown above.

i found that <a href="http://www.morinaga.co.jp/catalog/kashi/index4.html">the morinaga company</a> sells these brown sugar caramels too (top row, third one from the left)... and i think i have seen them at our local store so you might have luck with these caramels as well as the asahi hard candies. their packing is less rustic than the block printed box that kristin showed before, but still has that old style feeling.

dropping by the market, i found four more hard candies featuring brown sugar, but no brown sugar caramels...!

top two: brown sugar candy, ginger sugar (candy) with brown sugar filling

<center><img src="http://www.rawbw.com/~coconut/eg/04/041008kuro.jpg"> <img src="http://www.rawbw.com/~coconut/eg/04/041008kuro2.jpg"></center>

<center><img src="http://www.rawbw.com/~coconut/eg/04/041008kuro3.jpg"> <img src="http://www.rawbw.com/~coconut/eg/04/041008kuro4.jpg"></center>

bottom two: black candy, brown candy drops

sometimes brown sugar is called kokutou (黒糖) and sometimes its called kurozato （黒砂糖）. same words, just that the first one has the middle character dropped. the "black" has different readings in each word. maybe theres some difference between the two words that i dont know of... maybe they are different sugars in the way turbinado is different from say demerara or jaggery. anyone care to teach?

as a side note, in doing research for more candies, i kept finding reference to something called brown sugar agarasaa. i take it that this agarasaa is a kind of kastella, or it is in fact a kastella... whats the origin of the word agarasa? is it an okinawan term?

As far as I know, the terms kokutou and kurozatou are used interchangeably.  I never thought about it, when I come to think about it, I always use the term kurozatou myself.  I found one site that explains that jun kokutou (pure kokutou) differs from kurozatou in that the latter contains pure kokutou and sotou (crude suger).

http://www.kakinohana.co.jp/qa.htm

(Japanese only)

But I guess that this difference is specific to that manufacturer only.

I didn't know anything about agarasa, and I just had to find what it is.  In short, its a kushi (steamed) kasutera containing kurozatou.  As you guessed, it's an Okinawan confection.

http://www11.ocn.ne.jp/~ninjin-s/jiten-a.html

(Japanese only)

"Bibimbap shappdy wappdy wap." - Jinmyo
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Phish

Phish

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from here  http://www.joyofbaking.com/sugar.html

Raw Sugar ...

Demerara sugar ...

Muscovada or Barbados sugar ...

Turbinado sugar ...

Would Kurozato/Kokuto be a different type of sugar all together or one of the above? :unsure:

Some ideas of using Kurozato is probably to use it like <A HREF="http://www.asiafood.org/glossary_2.cfm?wordid=2825">"Gula Melaka". </A>... There are some interesting facts <A HREF="http://www.stefmike.org/mt-archives/000997.html">here</A> along with a picture.

Here is another <A HREF="http://umami.typepad.com/umami/snacks">foodblog</A> i found with some ideas.

Here is a recipe for <A HREF="http://www.asiafood.org/recipe_list_link.cfm?recipeid=497">Sago Pudding</A>

<A HREF="http://www.kuali.com/recipes/morerecipe.asp?ino=1&ing=Gula+Melaka">Here</A> are some other recipes from www.kuali.com that you could play around with.

or you could always get inspired by the <A HREF="http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showtopic=44433&pid=730195&st=60entry730195

">kuih/ kueh</A>thread from e-gullet.

Hope it was of some help! :smile:

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torakris

torakris

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Would Kurozato/Kokuto be a different type of sugar all together or one of the above? :unsure:

I don't know, that is what I am trying to figure out as well. :biggrin:

Thanks for all of those links I will be checking them out!

Kristin Wagner, aka "torakris"

 

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torakris

torakris

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I was searching the internet for various things related to black sugar and I was surprised to find this

Facial scrub -- black sugar (kurozato) is great for greasy summer skin! It dissolves very easily in even a little water, so even the lumpy types seem to be OK. Add a little katakuri-ko (especially the genuine one!) for extra squeaky-clean skin.

from here:

http://www.alientimes.org/2004/18-07july.html#frugal

hhhmmm.... :biggrin:

Kristin Wagner, aka "torakris"

 

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jackal10

jackal10

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Demerara sugar is often white granulated sugar with added partially refined syrup (golden syrup). You can dissolve off the brown coating with a little water..

In the UK we have Light soft brown and Dark soft brown. Looks like your sugar corresponds to dark soft brown

Edited by jackal10 (log)
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Phish

Phish

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I was searching the internet for various things related to black sugar and I was surprised to find this

Facial scrub -- black sugar (kurozato) is great for greasy summer skin! It dissolves very easily in even a little water, so even the lumpy types seem to be OK. Add a little katakuri-ko (especially the genuine one!) for extra squeaky-clean skin.

hhhmmm.... :biggrin:

Wow.. :blink: that's very interesting... i could never imagine putting candy on your face that actually helps clear out impurity... i guess this "kurozato" must be one of nature's best kept secret! :laugh:

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Akiko

Akiko

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Would Kurozato/Kokuto be a different type of sugar all together or one of the above?

I grew up being forced to eat those kurozato candies and I wasn't ever a fan of the molassessy (for lack of a better way to describe it) taste. My mother always made her andagi (Okinawan donut holes) with kurozato, but I much prefer them made with regular caster sugar.

Here in London I cook with light and dark muscovado as well as have demerera for my coffee and I don't think these things taste anything like Kurozato.

That said, the candy above with the ginger and kurozato is the first time I've ever been tempted by a kurozato candy. The combination sounds great :wub:

Amedama on the Go Go!
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Sartain

Sartain

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I have a huge sweet tooth, so after reading about the caramels on Torakris' foodblog I was jonzing to try some. A search of my the asian food stores here in Philly netted nothing. But I seem to have found some on the Net:

http://www.jbox.com/PRODUCT/SN666/TEXT/CTTR/TRTR/

From the kanji it looks like the same stuff, just different manufacturer, right?

Cognito ergo consume - Satchel Pooch, Get Fuzzy

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Phish

Phish

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Look what i found.... :wub:

gallery_21598_191_1097302218.jpg

I struggled to memorize the japanese characters of Kokuto and finally found it in the japanese grocery today... it was sad to know that that was the only thing they carried with kurozato in it and the packaging wasn't as 'chic' as the box with traditional motifs... but nevertheless, i found it!

Will report back later when i have time to try it out.

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melonpan

melonpan

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I struggled to memorize the japanese characters of Kokuto and finally found it in the japanese grocery today...
just a tip to make things easier for the next time you go on a japanese scavenger hunt... copy the characters you see here down on a piece of paper! :raz::laugh:
"Bibimbap shappdy wappdy wap." - Jinmyo
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Phish

Phish

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just a tip to make things easier for the next time you go on a japanese scavenger hunt...  copy the characters you see here down on a piece of paper!  :raz:    :laugh:

Good point!! :laugh: But I just didn't want to look like a lost little kid amidst the store.. :raz:

OK, if you like both kurozatou and peanuts, then I'm sure you'll love kurozatou-coated peanuts. :biggrin:

Ooohh... is this anything like peanut m&m's??? :smile:

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