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Celebrating Sugar Day: Unique Ways to Cook with Sugar

March 10 is recognized as 'Sugar Day', a date marked by the play on words with 'three' and 'ten' in Japanese, celebrating the nutritional value and culinary benefits of sugar. DM Mitsui Sugar Co., a well-known sugar producer based in Minato, Tokyo, invites you to discover innovative cooking techniques with sugar that elevate your dishes.

Using Sugar When Cooking Spinach

A New Way to Enjoy Spinach That Kids Will Love

Spinach is a staple vegetable in many households, but its natural bitterness, attributed to oxalic acid, can deter children from eating it. Traditionally, salt is used to boil spinach, but our new technique suggests adding sugar instead. By leveraging the osmotic and moisture-retaining properties of sugar, you can transform the cooking process:

1. Mild Flavor: Add about one tablespoon of sugar per liter of boiling water to diminish the bitterness of spinach. This enhances the vegetable's natural sweetness without making it overly sweet, making it more appealing, especially to children.

2. Maintained Texture: Incorporating sugar helps maintain the integrity of spinach's cell structure through osmotic balance, ensuring the leaves remain crisp.

3. Better Flavor Retention: Using sugar prevents soluble taste components from leaching into the cooking water, leading to a more flavorful dish overall.

Easy Method for Cooking Spinach with Sugar

To boil spinach effectively with sugar:

• - Ingredients Needed: 1 bunch of spinach, 1 liter of boiling water, and 1 tablespoon of sugar (which will replace salt).
• - Steps:

- Start by boiling plenty of water in a pot and add sugar.
- Immerse the spinach from the base and boil it quickly for 30 seconds to 1 minute.
- Immediately transfer the spinach to cold water to stop the cooking process, then gently squeeze out the excess water.

This method keeps the taste of the spinach intact, with only a minimal amount of sugar, ensuring that the natural flavors shine.

Meat Preparation with Sugar: A Culinary Game Changer

Another exciting application of sugar is in meat preparation. Inexpensive cuts of meat can be transformed into tender, juicy dishes by simply incorporating sugar before cooking. About 15-30 minutes prior to cooking, gently rub roughly 1% of the meat's weight in sugar (for instance, 1 gram of sugar per 100 grams of meat, which is about a teaspoon).

The secret lies in sugar's remarkable moisture-retaining ability. As the sugar interacts with the meat, it penetrates the protein and moisture, helping to prevent drying during cooking. Moreover, as the meat cooks, sugar raises the protein coagulation temperature, allowing for a softer texture that retains its juiciness even as it cools—perfect for meal prep!

Embracing a Sugar Balance in Life

DM Mitsui Sugar promotes the concept of '適糖生活' or 'Balanced Sugar Living', advocating the intake of an appropriate amount of sugar for a healthy lifestyle. This philosophy aims to address potential health issues caused by both excess and lack of sugar, promoting a moderate intake that supports daily activities and collaboration with experts to create sustainable lifestyle models.

About DM Mitsui Sugar Co.

Founded on September 4, 1947, DM Mitsui Sugar Co. is based in Mita S-Garden, Tokyo. The company specializes in refined sugar, sugar-related products, and functional food production, also managing real estate operations. For more information, visit their official website: DM Mitsui Sugar.