Dessert is the hardest thing to decide on for a Japanese meal, because most Japanese “desserts” are pretty disappointing, especially when compared to (duh) chocolate. Which is why I’m delighted to show you how to make Okinawan Brown Sugar Sauce—a very Japanese delight that can top anything from ice cream to that traditional Japanese summertime favorite, warabi mochi.
Brown Sugar Dessert Sauce
This is typically made with a very dark sugar from Okinawa called kurosatō, but its flavor can be authentically replicated outside Japan by combining regular dark brown sugar with a little molasses
Makes 3/4 c (255 ml)
3/4 c. (255 g) dark brown sugar
1/4 c. (60 ml) molasses
3/4 c. (255 ml) water
Stir together all ingredients in a small saucepan on top of the stove. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium and boil, stirring occasionally, for 9-10 minutes (or until it reaches 230°F (110°C). You can test it by dripping a little onto a plate and letting it cool for a few minutes. It will be thin when hot, but resemble pancake syrup when cool.
Kuromitsu Dessert Sauce can be stored, tightly covered, in the refrigerator for up to a month.
What to put it on:
Kuromitsu Sundae, dusted with Kinako Powder
Kuromitsu dessert sauce
Vanilla ice cream
Kinako (roasted soybean flour)
The combination of Okinawan brown sugar with the sweet, nutty taste of kinako is one of the most classic Japanese taste combinations, when it comes to sweets. You can buy kinako online if you can’t find it at your local Asian market. In a pinch, you can substitute ground peanuts, but I urge you to try to get kinako, because it’s such a unique and pleasing flavor!
•
If you’d like to try the traditional Japanese treat that inspired all the other kuromitsu + kinako-flavored sweets, here’s how to make it:
Warabi Mochi with Kuromitsu and Kinako
These sweet chewy bites dusted in roasted soybean flour and drizzled with Okinawan brown sugar syrup are one of the most traditional Japanese desserts there is
3/4 c. (110 g) warabiko (starch made from bracken) or tapioca flour
1/3 c (28 g) sugar
1-3/4 c. (400 ml) water
Kuromitsu dessert sauce
Kinako (roasted soybean flour)
For the mochi cubes:
Whisk first three ingredients together in a small saucepan until no lumps remain. Bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring constantly.
Beat for ten minutes over low-medium heat, not allowing it to stick or burn. This is hard work, and you should totally get credit for Arm Day at the gym afterwards. You have to be really diligent about beating the mochi vigorously and cooking it for the full ten minutes to get that boba-tea pearl texture—I’m a total weenie when it comes to arm strength, so mine turned out a little too soft.
Sift the roasted soybean flour into a bread pan and pour in the mochi. Sift lots more soybean flour on top.
Put in refrigerator for 30 minutes to cool. (Don’t let it stay in there too long, though, because it’ll lose its translucence and turn opaque white if it gets too cold.)
Pour some roasted soybean flour into a small bowl. Turn the mochi out onto a kinako-dusted bread board and slice off a 3/4″ (2 cm) wide strip.
Dangle the strip over the kinako-filled bowl (it’ll stretch) and snip off a square into the bowl with scissors. Swirl the bowl to coat the square in kinako, then snip off the next square. (You have to do it one at a time, or they’ll stick together. I learned this the hard way.) Set the dusted squares aside on another plate, not touching, and repeat until all the mochi is cut up and covered with kinako.
To serve: Chill the squares for no longer than 20 minutes, then mound a few on each serving plate. Drizzle with Kuromitsu Dessert Sauce.
Note: These are best eaten fresh, within a day of making them.
•
More ideas for incorporating kuromitsu and kinako flavors into Western-style desserts:
• If you make your own ice cream, you can make Kuromitsu Ice Cream or Kinako Ice Cream by substituting Kuromitsu Dessert Sauce for maple syrup, or stirring kinako powder into a basic cream base (with or without vanilla) before freezing. (Needless to say, kinako-flavored ice cream topped with Kuromitsu Dessert Sauce is fiendishly addictive.)
• You can make Kuromitsu and Kinako Parfaits by layering vanilla custard with kuromitsu and kinako.
• Kinako Shortbread: Add a subtle Japanese flavor to your cookies by substituting roasted soybean flour for a portion of the regular flour.
•
Click here for more Japanese Home Cooking Recipes
•
Or get a fresh recipe sent to your email every month when you subscribe!
•
•
•
Jonelle Patrick writes mystery novels set in Tokyo, and blogs at Only In Japan and The Tokyo Guide I Wish I’d Had
Japanagram 