January, 2011

New season ginger is now out, and this is the time to make pickled ginger (gari). Though ginger prices have gone up, pickled ginger will keep for a long time (years in the fridge, though the colour may change) so it's worth making your own, as the store bought always contains preservative chemicals.

We made some this week (see pic on right) and see how naturally pink it is...

Recipe:

Clean new season ginger--you probably won't have to peel the skin as it's very soft, but just remove brown bits. Slice or cut finely if you prefer, or into chunks like we did.

Bring big pot of water to the boil and immerse the ginger. Take one deep breath, and drain. While still warm, place into the amazu (see below) and leave. It will begin to turn that lovely pink colour straight away, and you can just put it in a jar or container and keep in the fridge. Eat with sushi or just as a little snack, or at the end of a meal to cleanse the palate, aid digestion or warm the body.

To make amazu, mix 200ml rice vinegar (always use rice vinegar, other vinegars can be too astringent), 6 tablespoons of sugar, 4 tablespoons of dashi, 1 teaspoon of salt in a saucepan and bring to boil to dissolve solids.

by Masako Fukui

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