Kuromitsu (黒蜜) is a delicious dark brown syrup made with kurozato, an unrefined black sugar from Okinawa. Use my easy recipe to make this mineral-rich sweetener at home and drizzle it on your favorite Japanese desserts.
Kuromitsu (黒蜜 “black honey”), AKA Japanese black honey, is a dark sugar syrup made from unrefined kuro-zato (黒砂糖, black sugar)/kokuto (黒糖). It is similar to molasses but thinner and milder. Like palm sugar, kurozato is unrefined and mineral-rich.
Table of contents
What Is Kuromitsu
Kuromitsu is a sweet dark syrup derived from unrefined Okinawan black sugar (kuro-zato/kokuto), which is available in cubes, powdered, or syrup form. It’s used in traditional Japanese desserts. It contains minerals like calcium, potassium, magnesium, and iron and Bifidobacteria (a group of probiotics), usually filtered out of white sugar. The dark color is due to its production method of caramelizing the sugar and the presence of impurities
As Okinawa produces most of the domestic sugar cane, it’s famous for its kurozato and kuromitsu products.
What Does It Taste Like
It has a deep flavor with a slight bitterness, like molasses, toffee, and caramel, but with more complexity.
How To Use
The Japanese use it in Wagashi, such as Anmitsu, kuzu mochi, dango, and warabi mochi. You could also pour the syrup over shaved ice, ice cream, and pancakes or use it as a sweetener for drinks.
Where To Buy
You can find bottled kuromitsu in Japanese and Asian grocery stores and Amazon. You can also make the syrup at home. If you can’t find kurozato/kokuto, you can substitute it with muscovado sugar or other dark brown sugar, although it won’t have that complex flavor.
Kuromitsu
Ingredients
- 3.5 oz black sugar (kurozato 黒砂糖 or Kokuto 黒糖)
- ½ cup sugar (to taste)
- ½ cup water
Instructions
- In a small saucepan, mix 3.5 oz black sugar, ½ cup sugar (to taste), and ½ cup water. Bring it to a boil over medium heat. Tip: This kuromitsu is quite rich, so feel free to reduce the amount of granulated sugar or omit it entirely, to your preference.
- Once boiling, reduce the heat to low and simmer for 15–20 minutes, stirring gently until the sugar dissolves completely and the mixture thickens slightly.
- Allow it to cool and transfer to an air tight jar/bottle. Keep in the refrigerator up to a week.
