By Margaret Malsam
Culinary professionals love ginger for its wonderful flavor – both fresh and dried. Fresh ginger has a very crisp, clean and lively flavor. It is often pickled and served with sushi or Asian food. Fresh ginger is excellent for seasoning meat, poultry, vegetable and seafood dishes, as well as in hot teas and stir-fries.
Ginger is thought to stimulate digestion and to increase one’s appetite. It also is a good source of potassium and has many fine medicinal qualities, such as soothing common coughs and motion sickness. A teaspoon of ginger added to a pot of baked beans can help reduce the bean’s gas-producing qualities.
Native to Southeast Asia, ginger is now grown in many tropical regions of the world. Ginger is quite popular in the Caribbean Islands where it grows wild in lush tropical settings. Jamaican ginger is prized for its strong, perky flavor. This island currently provides most of the world’s supply, followed by India, Africa and China.
Although ginger was well-known to the ancient Romans, it nearly disappeared in Europe after the fall of the Roman Empire. Thanks to Marco Polo’s trip to the Far East, ginger came back into favor in Europe and became a much-coveted spice for both its flavor and medicinal uses.
Cooking with fresh ginger
The gnarled, bumpy root of the ginger plant is the source of this wonderful spice. I learned about the delights of using fresh ginger root in many foods when I took a cooking class taught by an extension instructor from Colorado State University. In the very first class she showed us how to prepare a tasty soybean salad using fresh ginger and orange slices (see recipe). After helping her chop up the ingredients, all the class got to taste the recipe, and it proved to be a real winner.
Ginger’s tangy freshness, light spiciness, warmth and mellow sweetness complement a range of dishes, from sweet to savory. It can be a dominant flavoring, or it can work with other flavors. Beyond the traditional Asian applications like stir-fries and dipping sauces, ginger is equally at home with everyday ingredients such as maple syrup. Try adding finely grated fresh ginger with maple syrup to make a glaze for meats and vegetables.
Ginger can also be infused into milk and cream to make a tangy custard or ice cream. Even the unlikely combination of tomatoes and ginger works well. The sweetness of the tomatoes is a nice counterpoint to the sharp, spicy notes of the ginger. About any fruit or vegetable can be paired with fresh ginger.
Try using the edge of a metal spoon to scrape off the skin. It takes a bit more effort than a paring knife or a peeler, but it’s less wasteful and lets you maneuver around the knobs and gnarls.
Ginger can be sliced into planks or matchsticks, chopped, grated, puréed and minced. The thin slivers of ginger roasted with root vegetables become irresistibly crisp and chewy. Bits of minced ginger in casseroles provide occasional bursts of warm, spicy flavor. Slices are perfect for infusing flavor into a broth.
Add grated ginger to the almost-finished tomato sauce to infuse the sauce with a heady aroma and bright freshness. Also grated ginger blends beautifully into salad dressings and dipping sauces.
Dried ground ginger has a very warm, pleasing flavor. It is most commonly associated with gingerbread, cookies and many other baked goods. Queen Elizabeth I of England is credited with the invention of the gingerbread man, which became a popular Christmas treat.
