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Saturday in Bev's Kitchen

Tip for Grating Ginger

 Do you use fresh ginger?  I didn't for a long time for several reasons.  One being that I wasn't that fond of the strong taste of the powdered ginger spice and thought that fresh would be even stronger.  However I found out that fresh ginger has a more pleasant taste than the powdered. When I started to use the fresh ginger, I became frustrated because I found it hard to grate- even when I used the recommended rasp like the one pictured, it went stringy and I ended up with ginger juice rather than finely grated ginger. I also found that even if I refrigerated it, the ginger would go bad before I had a chance to use it all.

Then I heard about freezing it.

 



 When frozen, it is easy to peel with the back of a spoon or a paring knife and when you rub the frozen ginger over the rasp you end up with fine gratings just perfect for your stir fry or curry.  Grate as much as you need for your dish, then pop the rest of the whole ginger back into an airtight plastic bag and return it to the freezer until you need it again. Try this the next time you buy ginger.


from the kitchen of

22 comments:

  1. AnonymousApril 6, 2013 at 4:49 AM

    Thank you for sharing this!! I would love for you to post some recipes or ideas of your use of fresh ginger. Blessings!

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  2. VeeApril 6, 2013 at 5:45 AM

    Super tip! Thanks.

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  3. JuliaApril 6, 2013 at 6:39 AM

    This is a very good hint.... I've been doing for years, only I don't use a rasp or grater, I use a sharp butcher knife and shave my ginger. No stringy fibres and it quick and easy. The trick is to have the knife very sharp. I use a lot of ginger in my stir fry.

    JB

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  4. Judy April 6, 2013 at 7:41 AM

    Thanks for sharing your ginger tip, Bev. There is nothing like 'real' ginger...and I always have some in my freezer as well.

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  5. AnonymousApril 6, 2013 at 8:26 AM

    No need to even peel it....just grate it....tastes great!!

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  6. AnonymousApril 6, 2013 at 8:27 AM

    Great tip! Thanks for sharing. Here's a good use for fresh ginger: Ginger Tea is good for upset stomachs. Just put thinly sliced ginger root into hot water and sip. Better than ginger ale.

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  7. dianaApril 6, 2013 at 8:30 AM

    Thanks for this great tip! ;-)

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  8. AnonymousApril 6, 2013 at 10:10 AM

    I will def. use this tip! Thank you so much!

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  9. MichelleApril 6, 2013 at 11:32 AM

    Thank you so much for the tip. I didn't buy ginger for a lot of the same reasons you didn't.

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  10. JaneApril 6, 2013 at 1:01 PM

    We grow a lot of Ginger in Australia. I find that young ginger is very easy to grate fresh and has thin, delicate papery skin, where older ginger , that has been 'around for a while' is tough and stringy.Its also good dehydrated and ground or used in 'ginger tea"
    I prefer the younger Ginger myself, but either work in recipes.
    I like to peel mine and store in the Refridgerator in a mason jar half filled with sweet Sherry, The Ginger infuses with the Sherry and is great to add to stirfrys , trifles etc.
    I make up ginger tea in the morning, I slice a feww circles off , pound them slightly to get the juices to run and add them to my cup, sometimes I grate some and add it to a teaball infuser.Great for Arthritis

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  11. AnonymousApril 6, 2013 at 1:03 PM

    Great tips.
    Its also good for treating nausea

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  12. RosellaApril 6, 2013 at 5:51 PM

    Wow - so many great tips about ginger. I use fresh ginger a lot too but have never frozen it - I will definitely try this!

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  13. AngApril 6, 2013 at 6:12 PM

    I learned from my sweet Mama to put some fresh ginger into chicken noodle soup. It's the secret ingredient that makes it the best noodle soup around!!

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  14. Becki's Whole LifeApril 7, 2013 at 4:02 AM

    This is a great tip. Ginger is kind of a pain to mince really fine, but I love the idea of using the rasp to grate it frozen! I also buy ginger paste of my local asian market, but I agree with you, fresh ginger has a nice taste.

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  15. SkyeApril 7, 2013 at 8:16 AM

    This tip is greatly appreciated! Until now, I have avoided preparing recipes that required grating ginger for the reasons you mentioned. Now I can safely make Triple Ginger Cookies, a huge favorite of my family. Thank you!

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  16. Sandy aka Doris the GreatApril 7, 2013 at 11:52 AM

    I've been doing this for the past couple of years and this is one of the best tips I was ever given. Glad you're passing it on.

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  17. AnonymousApril 7, 2013 at 12:34 PM

    Just today I searched with no result for gingerpowder to put in a mild curry, then I remembered I had thrown it away because it tastes nasty if you use a little too much, while fresh ginger keeps tasting, well sharp, if youse too much, but not nasty. I will certainly use your deepfreezing tip, and use pieces of fresh ginger budding to make cheap potplants. Besides, an Indonesian lady at h=the market advised me years ago, to always use some ginger, when eating members of the beans and peas family, to avoid the (and then she blushed) windy effects of those. So I useed it even in peassoup and beandsoup, but got out of the habit by the gingerbulbs drying out so fast. Now I will certainly use ginger again, because, well, she was right. (As is eating fried porcmeat adding some kind of mustard).WE7

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  18. PatApril 8, 2013 at 5:20 PM

    Thank you for this info. I got a lot of ginger from my sister-in-law and didn't know I could freeze it. We planted some in our yard as well. I also made some candied ginger for nausea and heartburn symptoms. Thanks again for your wonderful blog.

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  19. JaneApril 8, 2013 at 10:35 PM

    Pat , how do you make your candied ginger , I would love to know?

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  20. Penny HanuszakApril 9, 2013 at 10:06 AM

    Like you and others, I've avoided using fresh ginger for exactly the same reasons. It always seemed like more trouble than it was worth. Thanks for this tip. It sounds like one I'll use.

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  21. QuinnMay 8, 2013 at 4:24 AM

    Thank you for sharing this tip - I will certainly try it! Do you have any suggestions for telling if a particular piece of ginger will be excessively tough and stringy? I find choosing ginger even harder than choosing a good melon, and it is so disappointing to get home and find I've wasted my grocery money.

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  22. AudreyMay 9, 2013 at 8:50 AM

    Thanks so much - extremely helpful - for peeling and storing in freezer.

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