Homemade ketjap manis: use brown sugar, or caramelize the sugar?

[Howard_2]

I've seen 2 different classes of recipes for ketjap manis. One caramelizes the sugar, the other mixes brown sugar with soy sauce and other ingredients.

I made the one using caramelized sugar. It's a bit of a pain in the neck, because dissolving the caramelized sugar with the soy sauce takes a lot of stirring.

Anyone have any opinions on which is better? Does it really matter, since presumably the sugar, in whatever form, is a tiny part of a finished dish?

[qianning]

Personally, I'd use palm sugar or palm jaggery.

[chefj]

Agreed There is a Black Jaggery (may be from Coconut Palm Sugar) from South India that has just the right flavor and melts easily.

[paulj]

Bottled kecap manis lists palm sugar as the first ingredient. If I had to duplicate it, I'd start with equal parts molasses and soy sauce.