Traditional Artisanal Brown Sugar
Traditional brown sugar meticulously crafted from pure sugarcane juice over a wood-fired stove, utilizing ancient methods of extraction, filtering, boiling, skimming, and hand-stirring.
Story
Crafted through centuries-old traditions, this artisanal brown sugar is slowly simmered over a rustic wood-fired stove. The pure sugarcane juice undergoes a meticulous, time-honored transformation—carefully filtered, skimmed, and stirred by hand—to capture a rich, deep caramel essence.
Ingredients
Sugarcane (freshly harvested, preferably cut and harvested the same day or the day before, no chemical fertilizers or pesticides used)
about 500000g (can produce 50000g of sugar)
Sugarcane leaves (sun-dried to be used as fuel)
as needed
Firewood (used to heat four large pots)
as needed
Instructions
1
Extracting Juice
Extract sugarcane juice using large-scale juicing equipment, extracting it only once. The sugarcane bagasse can be dried and used as fuel or mulch.
2
Filtering
The sugarcane juice passes through a filtering device made of bamboo tubes and bamboo splints into an earthen vat buried underground, settling to remove impurities.
3
Heating
Pour the filtered sugarcane juice into four large pots on a stove, and slowly heat over a wood fire. The moisture evaporates to form mist.
4
Skimming
After the sugarcane juice boils, foam appears on the surface. Use an iron sieve with a radius of about 20 centimeters to skim off the foam containing impurities.
5
Stirring
When the sugarcane juice becomes increasingly viscous, use a long-handled wooden mallet tool to stir along the bottom of the pot to prevent sticking.
6
Boiling Sugar
Continue boiling until the sugar color turns yellow tinted with red, and the moisture evaporates until only a small pot's worth remains. Stay by the stove and stir continuously.
7
Beating
Transfer the sugar syrup into a small iron pot, and use a large flat iron spoon to stir rapidly for about one minute. This step determines the sandy texture and layering of the sugar.
8
Molding
Quickly pour the hot syrup onto a bamboo mat lined with wooden strips, forming a shallow depression to prevent the syrup from overflowing.
9
Beating
While hot, beat the sugar block with a wooden strip to squeeze out the air and flatten the surface. This needs to be completed within one or two minutes.
10
Cutting
Use a small pointed iron rod together with a wooden strip to cut the sugar into 4 cm by 10 cm rectangles.
11
Cooling and Packing
Wait half an hour for the sugar blocks to cool completely, then stack them neatly and pack into boxes.
