Why do some Chinese dishes, namely braises and soups often call for rock sugar instead of regular sugar. Does rock sugar have any properties that would make it behave differently than regular granulated sugar?
Sugar – Why is rock sugar used in Chinese cooking
chinese-cuisinesugar
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Best Answer
In China, highly refined granulated sugar like we find in US is somehow uncommon. The most common form of sugar is soft white sugar that is less pure and contains a few percent of syrup and other sugar family substance. These imperfections sometimes affect cooking.
Rock sugar has a relatively larger market in China than the rest of the world for precisely this reason: over there it's the most common highly purified and refined form of sugar, because if it's not pure, it won't crystalize so large. Crystalization is the further refinement process.
As a result, if a Chinese chef feel the need for highly purified sugar, he/she calls for rock sugar. This logic is sometimes carried on by chefs that works with granulated sugar regularly that is truly indistinguishable form crushed rock sugar.
So, if your regular sugar is already crystalized high purity granulated sugar, then no need for rock sugar.