129TABLE
(^) TALK
The New Black
While tasting the four samples of black sugar, we
come across one that jolts us awake. A Taiwanese
black sugar incorporated with ginger, available
locally from Sin Yee, would make a lovely teh halia
(hot ginger milk tea), in the opinion of Chef Gotried
Schuetzenberger of Grand Hyatt Singapore. “Or,
you could use this for ginger candies, lollipops...
ginger ice cream? Ginger snaps! That would be
nice. Brandy snaps, as well.” A Japanese black sugar,
made with 60 percent Okinawa black sugar, is noted
for its enticing sweet-smoky scent. Baker Yue uses
this sugar for cronuts. Already wonderfully flakey
and fragrant with the scent of butter, the croissant-
doughnut hybrid is given a greater depth of
complexity through the use of the black sugar. When
it comes to versatility, though, a Singaporean black
jaggery sugar, manufactured locally by Cheng Yew
Heng, is unanimously selected as the favourite. “The
aroma reminds me of my mum baking Christmas
cookies,” says Chef Schuetzenberger, who has used
this sugar in place of white sugar in a classic banana
bread recipe. “It has a raw, natural aroma, and a
slightly roasted, caramel-like flavour, which brings
this banana bread to a different level.” Baker Yue is
thinking of using this sugar for a sweet bun. “I like
its caramel scent,” says Baker Yue. “For me, I would
cook the sugar, add a little butter, set the buns over,
top with fruits, and bake them all together.” Chef
Chan wants to add this sugar to soy milk pudding.
“On its own, tofu pudding has only the fragrance of
soy beans and a silky texture. But if you add this, the
flavours would be brought to another dimension.”
has a sandy, crystalline appearance,
with a scent of burnt sugar cane.
Good for baked goods, doughs, to
sweeten fruit fillings or tea, and as a
burnt caramel over puddings.
The trend now is to replace refined white
sugar with something more nutrient-dense.
It is good to explore better choices.
Gottfried Schuetzenberger
cronuts with Okinawan black sugar by Baker Leonard Yue
Do More With
black jaggery sugar
(from Cheng Yew Heng)