Culinary Usage Of Ginger

Immature ginger root is juicy and fleshy with a reasonably mild taste. They are often pickled in vinegar or sherry as a snack or just cooked as an ingredient in many dishes (if you are familiar with my recipe articles, then you know my favorite use for ginger is making Grandma’s famous ginger sugarsnaps ). Young ginger roots can also be stewed in boiling water to make ginger tea, and when honey is added, you have yourself one delectable beverage. Some people also like to add sliced orange or lemon fruit.

Ginger can also be made into candy such as ginger suckers or Lavender Ginger Laffy Taffy (new flavor, amazing). Really the uses of ginger in sugary foods is endless, because the savory nature of ginger is coupled with a hint of sweetness, making it a perfect compliment to tone down a snack or beverage that may be over sweetened.

Adult ginger is fibrous and nearly dry. These are the ones Grandma preferred to use when making her ginger sugarsnaps . The fluid from these old ginger roots is very strong and is often used as a spice in many east Indian recipes, and is quite the quintessential ingredient for Chinese, Japanese and many South Asian.

Ginger can also be a useful food preservative. Imagine that, its uses go even beyond mere flavoring delights! Who can’t get enough of the greatness and myriad uses of Ginger? This guy!

Now here are some important mathematical facts to keep in mind when working with fresh and or ground ginger. Fresh ginger should be substituted for ground ginger at a ratio of approximately 6 to 1, though keep in mind the flavors of fresh and dried ginger are quite different. Powdered dry ginger root is typically used as a flavoring for recipes such as gingerbread, cookies, crackers and cake, ginger ale, ginger beer and of course ginger sugarsnaps.

Fresh ginger should always be peeled before eating, unless you are a complete barbarian! For longer-term storage, the ginger can be placed in a plastic bag then refrigerated or frozen. Or if you are a drug dealer, perhaps you have one of those vacuum sealing food saver devices. Either way, ginger can be stored for quite some time if packaged properly in an air tight manner. I’ll be back soon with some more detailed descriptions and recipes related to the above uses of ginger!

If you like ginger check out my recipe for Ginger Sugarsnaps !