Sugar

Buy Japanese sugar | Authentic Okinawa sugar

A lesser-known ingredient in Japanese cuisine, genuine Okinawan black sugar, or kokuto, is characterised by intense, complex flavours of molasses, smoke and spice.

The traditional production method of slow-cooking sugarcane juice dates to the 17th century. Only sugar that is made using this process, with raw sugar cane from Okinawa prefecture, can be designated 'Okinawan black sugar'.

As opposed to white sugar, powdered sugar, caster sugar or even light brown sugar (which are highly refined and may come from sugar beet), Okinawan sugar has a deep, complex sweetness due to the raw cane sugar and high molasses content. Our Okinawan brown sugar is a mix of unrefined sugar, molasses and slightly refined brown sugar, resulting in a mild sweetness with salty, bitter and acidic flavours.

Produced from raw sugar cane, our range of authentic Japanese sugars are the perfect ingredient for both savoury and sweet Japanese recipes. It combines particularly well with soy sauce - perfect for glazing pork ribs. We also stock black sugar with a hint of garlic, which can be a wonder in Japanese cooking too.