Knowledge Base > Char Nolan - Ask Me Anything (Office Hours)

Ask Me Anything (Office Hours)

Char Nolan - Ask Me Anything (Office Hours)

This event was on Tuesday, May 30, 2023 at 11:00 am Pacific, 2:00 pm Eastern

Join Chef Char Nolan in her virtual office as she welcomes all of your questions. This event was created for you and we encourage you to ask anything – from cooking techniques to cou… Read More.

Recorded

Question:

I use dates a lot. Is Monk fruit a good sweetner?

— Deeb George

Answer:

So I have a couple of comments about, uh, monk fruit. So this is one, this is monk fruit here. It's almost granulated. It has the texture of instant coffee. Uh, if you're gonna buy True Monk fruit, you've gotta go, I'll go to H Mart because this one is mixed with erythritol. And I don't really wanna have erythritol in my system. So I say, uh, either go to Chinatown or H Mart or go to a place like Amazon and examine the different monk fruit availabilities that they are. Um, da you know, dates are so deliciously sweet, they taste like candy. They've got potassium in them, they've got fiber in them, they're good for you. But, uh, sometimes it can be too much of a good thing. Um, I have a sweet tooth, so I have to remind myself that, uh, dates are loaded with sugar and that you don't need more than one or two. And, um, we, we train ourselves to, um, sort of unravel old tasting patterns. Uh, it takes 21 days to change a habit, um, but try the monk fruit, make sure it doesn't have erythritol in it. Um, I think the, I I won't say the brand, but if you go to the conventional grocery store, it's in a red bag, but it does have erythritol in it. The one I get at H Mart is pure monk fruit. It doesn't have as sweet it taste, it's a little bit more subtle, but it works. So, um, I hope that, um, that, that, um, helps you de that's a very good question because I think, um, let me just get on a soapbox for one minute. Oftentimes I'll hear people say, and it's sugar free, and then I'll look at the recipe and it'll have a cup of maple syrup in it, or it'll have a cup of date syrup in it. And yes, it's refined sugar free, but remember that maple syrup, date syrup, et cetera, et cetera, are all sources of sugar. So if sugar is something that is important for you to keep an eye on, be aware, but try that monk fruit. Let me know how it is.
Char Nolan

Char Nolan

Chef Instructor

@char_nolan