[Sca-cooks] rock sugar

[Robyn.Hodgkin at affa.gov.au]

Robyn.Hodgkin at affa.gov.au wrote:
>The asian rock sugar to which I was referring, comes in hard translucent
>lumps. The lumps are a kind of very pale coffee colour and are random in
>size, but in general around an inch square.  They are not cubes; just a
>kind of random giant crystal shape, with distinct shiny faces.  The look
>kind of like large versions of smashed safety glass, but pale
>coffee-coloured.

Kiriel,

Chances are excellent that what you bought is palm sugar. Yummy, yummy, yummy.
That is, it is made from the sap of some particular palm trees.
I've also gotten some that is sort of the texture of partially
crystallized honey.  Now, i believe i've made it very clear to the
list that i don't like sweets much. Well, i could just eat this stuff
out of the container with a spoon. Mmm-mmm-mmm. It has a wonderful
special flavor, *not* like maple sugar, which is the closest thing i
can think of like it. Most of what i buy is from Thailand, but they
have the same stuff in Indonesia, and probably in other Southeast
Asian countries.

Anahita

No, it is not palm sugar, at least not the same as the palm sugar I buy.  Palm sugar is dark and kind of grainy and is in softer lumps, where this is hard and clear and like giant crystals. And rock sugar is like rock; very hard and brittle.

Kiriel