Wednesday, October 5, 2011

Preserving Food - How to keep ginger

I LOVE fresh ginger in every recipe I can put it in…. but my family doesn’t.  With a 4/1 ratio that makes ginger an uncommon guest at our dinner table.  So I had to find a way to store it so it wouldn’t go bad between infrequent uses. 

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I discovered that if you freeze it in useable chunks it is very easy to grate or slice as well!  So for the last few years I have been using this method.  I freeze the ginger in chunks in an airtight plastic bag (the airtight doesn’t matter near as much once it is frozen.  It’s pretty hardy stuff.).

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When I want to use a piece of it I take it out and hold it in the palm of my hand for a few seconds to melt the skin so it is soft enough to peel off with a peeler or a knife.

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Once it is peeled it is easy to grate or slice for whatever use you want! 

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I grate it up as small as I can with my micro planer.  This is a handyman's woodworking tool that has been modified for kitchen use.  It is used for hard cheeses, zesting, and ginger grating!  I love the thing!  When it is grated like this you can measure it and add it to any recipe.

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Ginger, squash, and carrot soup topped with caramelized onion jam that was made ahead and waiting in my fridge.

If you are an infrequent user of ginger as I am this tip can really save you money.  Ginger in the freezer can be kept for an entire year!  :)

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5 comments

Mallory said...

I will definitely be using this tip! Thanks!

Shirley said...

Are you growing it, too? It's a pretty plant with pretty flowers.

Val in the Rose Garden said...

Shirley,

Root veggies don't grow too well here. It's really really wet (we are near Seattle WA) and things tend to rot in the ground. Not to say that it couldn't be done! Just that it would take quite a bit of time. So I get it organic and call it good. ;)

Blessings,

Val

Patzi said...

Thank you for the tip!
I'm too the only one who eats ginger in this house. And I often had to throw the rest out :-(
I love it as a tea in wintertime, as soon as I sense a cold. And then I chew the ginger.

Anonymous said...

Thanks so much for this tip. I'm the only who eats giner in our house as well. I will definitely try this next time!

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