Recipe Pickled Ginger

[The Late Night Gourmet]

My daughter bought sushi from Kroger (which always serves up good sushi) a few days ago, and - as she always does when I'm not quick enough to stop her - threw away the pickled ginger. I love pickled ginger, so I had a little chat with her about it. She won't throw away the pickled ginger again, but it also brought me to the place home cooks often find themselves in when such things happen: I decided to make some myself.

The recipe is work-intensive, but not that tricky. You can vary the spiciness by varying the time you spend boiling the ginger. If you want it to be spicy, only boil it for a minute. If you want it milder (like the way it's usually served in restaurants and Kroger), then boil it for 3 minutes. I boiled mine for 2.

Ingredients

6 ounces ginger root
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 cup rice vinegar
1 tablespoon sugar (or more if you want a milder ginger)

Directions

1. Use a teaspoon to scrape the skin off the ginger root. This will help in getting around all the various bumps while saving as much of the root as possible.

NOTE: I was prepared to use a mandolin to slice off pieces of ginger, and perhaps I will do that next time. But, when I read a recipe that showed using a peeler, I decided to give it a try. It works quite well. In the picture below, I am using a cut-proof glove (highly recommended, unless you want a red tinge in your ginger!)

2. Use a peeler to shave pieces of ginger into a bowl.

3. Bring a pot of water to a boil. Add ginger to the pot and return to a boil. Boil for 1 minute if you want spicy ginger, and 3 minutes for milder ginger.

4. Remove ginger from the water and strain out. Squeeze as much water as possible out of the ginger and pat dry with a paper towel. Lay the ginger flat and sprinkle with salt.

5. Heat up vinegar and sugar and stir until the sugar is fully integrated. Place ginger in a jar, and pour the liquid over it, ensuring that it fully covers the ginger. Seal the jar, and refrigerate until ready for use.

 

[Morning Glory]

In the picture below, I am using a cut-proof glove (highly recommended, unless you want a red tinge in your ginger!)

Ah - is that why sushi ginger is often pink?!

 

[The Late Night Gourmet]

Ah - is that why sushi ginger is often pink?!

View attachment 33902

I do have a serious answer to this question. I saw the term young ginger used in the ingredients list of some pickled ginger recipes, so I looked it up. Unlike the beige color we normally see from ginger root, young ginger looks like this:

The pink parts of the root bleed into the rest of the ginger (a bit like the skin of a red onion bleeds into the white fleshy part when picking onions).

 

[MypinchofItaly]

View attachment 33901

My daughter bought sushi from Kroger (which always serves up good sushi) a few days ago, and - as she always does when I'm not quick enough to stop her - threw away the pickled ginger. I love pickled ginger, so I had a little chat with her about it. She won't throw away the pickled ginger again, but it also brought me to the place home cooks often find themselves in when such things happen: I decided to make some myself.

The recipe is work-intensive, but not that tricky. You can vary the spiciness by varying the time you spend boiling the ginger. If you want it to be spicy, only boil it for a minute. If you want it milder (like the way it's usually served in restaurants and Kroger), then boil it for 3 minutes. I boiled mine for 2.

Ingredients

6 ounces ginger root
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 cup rice vinegar
1 tablespoon sugar (or more if you want a milder ginger)

Directions

1. Use a teaspoon to scrape the skin off the ginger root. This will help in getting around all the various bumps while saving as much of the root as possible.

NOTE: I was prepared to use a mandolin to slice off pieces of ginger, and perhaps I will do that next time. But, when I read a recipe that showed using a peeler, I decided to give it a try. It works quite well. In the picture below, I am using a cut-proof glove (highly recommended, unless you want a red tinge in your ginger!)

2. Use a peeler to shave pieces of ginger into a bowl.

View attachment 33899

3. Bring a pot of water to a boil. Add ginger to the pot and return to a boil. Boil for 1 minute if you want spicy ginger, and 3 minutes for milder ginger.

View attachment 33900

4. Remove ginger from the water and strain out. Squeeze as much water as possible out of the ginger and pat dry with a paper towel. Lay the ginger flat and sprinkle with salt.

5. Heat up vinegar and sugar and stir until the sugar is fully integrated. Place ginger in a jar, and pour the liquid over it, ensuring that it fully covers the ginger. Seal the jar, and refrigerate until ready for use.

Great. And I'm impressed too about how easy it is this recipe, I hadn't idea.
Thank you for this, I really love pickled ginger (I think the only veg I like pickled)

 

[cookieee]

This is not the place to mention this, but speaking of ginger.....

DH came home from the grocery store the other day with bad, sad news for me. The ONLY place we know of that sells chocolate covered ginger is going to discontinue it. I have been enjoying eating it for some years now. Dark chocolate and ginger, a great combination. I will miss you.

 

[MypinchofItaly]

This is not the place to mention this, but speaking of ginger.....

DH came home from the grocery store the other day with bad, sad news for me. The ONLY place we know of that sells chocolate covered ginger is going to discontinue it. I have been enjoying eating it for some years now. Dark chocolate and ginger, a great combination. I will miss you.

Oh, not a good news, I would be sad like you as I'm a fan of choco in general, and dark choco with ginger is something to die for.

 

[cookieee]

I did a search and found out Trader Joes sells it. Whoopeeee (but its not cheap)

 

[The Late Night Gourmet]

I did a search and found out Trader Joes sells it. Whoopeeee (but its not cheap)

Well...you do have a recipe for pickled ginger. And you know where to buy chocolate...

 

[The Late Night Gourmet]

Thank you for this, I really love pickled ginger (I think the only veg I like pickled)

morning glory: see? Vegetable! (we're in the midst of a debate about whether ginger root is a spice or a vegetable at the moment).

 

[cookieee]

Well...you do have a recipe for pickled ginger. And you know where to buy chocolate...

and you'll come over and make it for me? lol

 

[cookieee]

Hey LN, guess what? I just reread the story we all wrote. That was fun. Want to do it again some day?

 

[The Late Night Gourmet]

Hey LN, guess what? I just reread the story we all wrote. That was fun. Want to do it again some day?

I was thinking about that. I think Halloween seems to be a perfect time for something like this. Expect to see something soon!

 

[Kanans]

this is interesting. i only boil ginger and drink the juice as tea. i'll give this a try

 

[Morning Glory]

I do have a serious answer to this question. I saw the term young ginger used in the ingredients list of some pickled ginger recipes, so I looked it up. Unlike the beige color we normally see from ginger root, young ginger looks like this:

View attachment 33903

The pink parts of the root bleed into the rest of the ginger (a bit like the skin of a red onion bleeds into the white fleshy part when picking onions).

I'd not heard that explanation - I thought the real reason some pickled ginger is pink is that its had food colouring added (usually beetroot juice). Its nice to know its not added colouring.

 

[medtran49]

I had read that before about the young ginger when I was looking for a recipe.