Oh sugar, sugar...

Like I mentioned previously, I've been on a little mission to use up or throw away all the old stuff in my pantry (including the refrigerator). I didn't realize the different types of sugar I have in the pantry that I find all 'essential'. I have regular granulated sugar, powder sugar, light brown sugar, dark brown sugar, large rock sugar, small rock sugar (pictured above), slab of rock sugar (pictured below), and palm sugar (also pictured below). Oh, I think I have some sugar sprinkles for cookies somewhere too!

The more common ones most people have around the house and know when to use them. Okay, so maybe I don't need more light and dark brown sugar. But the others are used often in Asian cooking. It's just not the same to make green curry without the palm sugar, I try to grate it most of the time. I do confess to just substituting brown sugar when I'm really lazy.

The large rock sugar I like to put in the dessert soup when I need a larger quantity of sugar. I also use it when I make a simple syrup. The small ones I use in savory dishes like stews and soups. The rock sugar just have a cleaner flavor to me. I also use the small ones to sweeten my ginseng tea. So as long as I use them, I could keep them all, right??