February 21, 2013

Kuromitsu/黒蜜(くろみつ)

Kiki's post on home-made treacle had made me want to make kuromitsu (lit. black syrup).

I bought a bag of kuro zato (lit. black sugar) from a 100-yen shop.  When I got home and checked the label, I found that the product was not 100% kuro zato, but contained other ingredients such as molasses.  I was a little disappointed, but anyway, I made kuromitsu with it.

The recipe is quite simple:  Mix equal amounts of black sugar, sugar, and water, bring to a boil, and simmer for a few minutes.
Kikiさんの自家製の糖蜜を見て、私は黒蜜を作りたくなりました。

100円ショップで黒砂糖を一袋買って、家に帰って、調べると、黒砂糖100%ではなく、糖蜜など他の材料も入っていることに気付きました。ちょっとガッカリしましたが、とにかく、黒蜜を作りました。

レシピはすごく簡単です。黒砂糖と砂糖と水を同量混ぜ、沸騰させ、数分煮詰めます。 

I think I'll make some milk mochi later, and have it with the kuromitsu and kinako.  Kuromitsu and kinako are a very common combination in Japan.
後でミルクもちを作って、黒蜜ときな粉で食べようと思います。日本では、黒蜜ときな粉はとても一般的な組み合わせです。

7 comments:

Fräulein Trude said...

Is black sugar made of sugar cane or sugar beet? If made from sugar beet Kuromitsu should taste a little bit like fresh treacle. The taste between sugar cane molasse and sugar beet molasse is very different due to the high iron and mineral content of the sugar beet. I will look for black sugar in the asia market.

Hiroyuki said...

Kiki: According to Wikipedia, it's made of sugar cane, and interestingly, only a single company in Hokkaido produces kuro zato-like sugar, made of sugar beet.

Kurozato is a specialty of Okinawa. I hope you can find pure kurozato!

Yangsze said...

I love kuromitsu -- yours looks delicious! How is it different from the ready made kuromitsu that you can buy in stores?

Fräulein Trude said...

If it is sugar cane it could be very similiar to dark muscovado (sugar).

Hiroyuki said...

Yangsze: I guess that high-quality store-bought ones are mostly pure kuro zato plus sugar and water, while low-quality ones contain lots of other types of sugar.

Kiki: Yes, according to Wikipedia and other sources.

Note that my recipe that calls for equal amounts of kurozato, sugar, and water is just one example.
I got my recipe from here:
http://cookpad.com/recipe/294292
This one uses mizuame instead of sugar:
http://www.kyounoryouri.jp/recipe/2203_%E9%BB%92%E3%81%BF%E3%81%A4.html
This one uses kurozato and water only:
http://www.kokumotsuya.com/recipe_search/detail.php?rcp_cd=305&PHPSESSID=fc0834cb6d2ace251f726c10f8bec754
It's kind of overwhelming...

Sissi said...

Very interesting. You have reminded me I had some black sugar shochu last year in a Tokyo izakaya. Very unusual and delicious!

Hiroyuki said...

Sissi: If you like treacle, I'm sure you will like kuromitsu. I think kuromitsu and kinako are a very powerful (I mean, tasty) combination.