Early autumn arrives on the breeze, carrying the faint scent of osmanthus.
It is the season to make a jar of osmanthus syrup at home (桂花蜜, though there is no honey in it). The process is slow and quiet, and the result is a clear, golden syrup with the flowers suspended inside, ready to sweeten the months ahead.
The sugar
Rock sugar (冰糖) is crystallised slowly from cane sugar. Its sweetness is clean and light, never heavy.
Osmanthus is delicate. A sugar with a strong flavour of its own would cover it. Rock sugar simmers down into a clear syrup with a pure sweetness, so the flower stays at the front. It also keeps the syrup bright and see-through, which lets the golden petals show in the jar.
How it comes together
Dried osmanthus steeps in warm water for 8 minutes, until the fragrance moves into the water. The osmanthus water is strained, and the softened flowers are kept aside to return later. Rock sugar goes into the pot with the osmanthus water and simmers over gentle heat for 20 minutes, slowly concentrating the scent and the sweetness.
When the syrup has cooled to warm, part of the flowers are stirred back in, so the petals and syrup come together. Then it goes into a jar and is sealed.
Why this matters
Homemade preserves are a way of keeping a season. A small jar on the shelf means a spoonful of autumn is always within reach: stirred into tea in the morning, or poured over a dessert in the afternoon. It is an old habit, and a simple one, and rock sugar has always been part of it.
Ship Brand (帆船牌) is the retail line of Yuen Tung Sugar Factory Industrial Company Limited. Sugar refined in Hong Kong since 1987. Shop the collection.
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