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Chancaca is an unrefined sugar commonly used in Peru, made by simmering sugarcane juice to create a thick brown syrup that is poured into molds. It is considered healthier than regular sugar due to the impurities it retains, which provide essential nutrients. Chancaca has a distinct flavor similar to caramel and is often mixed with honey. It is also known as gur, jiggery, muscovado, panela, or raspadura in other parts of the world.
Chancaca is a type of sugar commonly used in Peru. It is unrefined and retains many of the impurities that are commonly removed during the white sugar manufacturing process. This dark sugar is used to sweeten many foods, but one of its most common uses is to make chancaca syrup, a sweet liquid often flavored with the peel of an orange.
When sugarcane is squeezed, it produces a dark, rich liquid that is thin and watery. To make sugar, the juice is filtered to remove impurities such as bits of leaves and cane. It is then simmered slowly over low heat for many hours, causing the water to evaporate. In the end what is left is a thick brown syrup that is very sweet.
This syrup is what chancaca is made of, poured into molds where it fits into solid blocks of dark sugar. These blocks, which can typically be circular or square, are how this sugar is sold. Many recipes that call for it as an ingredient may refer to using a block of it rather than using another form of measurement.
Despite the impurities, chancaca aficionados often claim it’s much healthier than regular sugar. The dark color is caused by any impurities that aren’t removed from the product, which can include things like potassium, iron, and magnesium. Unlike white sugar, chancaca provides essential nutrients rather than empty calories. These impurities and their associated nutrients eventually become a byproduct of white sugar production and combine to create molasses.
Since the molasses is left over when chancaca is made, this type of sugar has a very distinct flavor that many compare to caramel. It is also often mixed with honey, crystallized honey in sugar blocks, or liquid honey in various recipes. This adds to the strong, sweet flavor of this sugar, a taste many find they prefer.
Chancaca has different names in places outside of Peru. In Asia it may be called gur or jiggery, and in the Philippines it is called muscovado. Many parts of Latin America call this sugar panela or raspadura. In the United States and other countries that typically use white and refined sugar, it can be hard to find, but can sometimes be found at a health food store or ethnic market, under one of these names.
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