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This is ginger.
This is the raw ginger, a lot of people
have not used raw ginger.
Mostly what people use is what they find
in the spice section.
But this is a very versatile rhizome.
It's not a root it's a rhizome.
If you have iris that's what they have,
are rhizomes.
But this is a rhizome that we can eat.
Ginger originated in China, and China
is still the largest producer of ginger.
That's why we associate it with Asian
cooking.
It is now available in almost all markets.
So I want to show you all the ways we can
find it in the store, and then i'm going
to show you how to take care of a raw one.
So down here, I have crystallized ginger,
some people call it sugared ginger.
It is ginger pieces that are coated with,
sugar.
A great way to have it, it goes into
desserts really well. It makes great tea.
So that's that way.
Then we also have powdered ginger,
which is probably the way that most
people use it. Because in the recipes,
and it's for sweet things like pumpkin pie
and then you can also use it with meats.
So it's a very very versatile spice.
Then you can buy ginger that is all
chopped up in a little jar.
This is really nice because they get it
finer than you'll be able to do it at home
So if you don't want any pieces in it this
is the way to go.
And then there's the raw ginger, found
in the produce section.
Now, a lot of people think of ginger just
for the Asian kinds of cooking.
It is actually used in a lot of different
ones.
I've already taken the end off of this,
so you can see the inside.
It is really meaty, it's yellowish
in color, and it has a very very thin skin
you can barely see that skin all the way
around.
So, the nutrition and the taste from
ginger is right under the skin, the best
place for it.
So I want to show you how to scrape off
the skin so you don't waste any of the
nutrition and especially the taste.
So, we're going to use this one that I've
cut so you can see what I'm doing.
You want to take a spoon, I prefer the
table spoon because of my hands, it's
easier for me to use.
You could use a teaspoon, but you don't
want to use one that's much thicker than
this. You just scrape the skin off.
That makes it so that only the pieces
come off and it doesn't take much of
the meat. If you'll notice when you look
at this, it's mainly brown on both sides.
You don't have much meat.
Now, do you always have to peel the ginger
No, you don't. The only time you really
peel the ginger is if I wanted to use a
chunk of it and keep it there.
I would take it and be sure that it's
scraped off, because if you've got this
big piece, you probably would never do
one quite this large, that way it would
a bit more easier to chew. You know how
it is, skin takes a little more.
But it comes off very nicely.
Now, what do you do with it when you want
to use it.
There's several ways to use the fresh
ginger. You can slice it, you can
grate it, and then you can dice it.
You can also squeeze the juice out of it.
I don't do that very much, I find that I
just put the pieces in, you know how I am,
the easy cook. I don't want to do too much
work.
So I just put the big chunks in and then
I take those out instead of juicing it.
So, I'm going to show you how to slice and
dice it now, because it is very wet.
It's amazing how much liquid is inside
a chunk of ginger.
So let's say we're going take this piece
right here,
and I'm going to slice it thinly.
If I'm just going to slice it really
thinly, I do not need to peel it.
You just, you know you follow it.
And I wish you could feel this, this
is all very wet, but you see how thin I
made that, you can actually kind of see
through it. Make it as thin as you can.
The other thing about ginger is that it
has fibers in it.
And you want to cut it, slice it really
thinly so that the fibers aren't too thick
So the thinner, the better.
Now, if you get sushi at the grocery store
they will have the pickled ginger and it's
pink. When they add the vinegar to it,
this actually turns pink. They aren't
adding food coloring, that's just the way
it is. Now wish you could see all the
little fibers.
We need a big magnifying glass.
There you can see those, maybe from the
side better, but that's all fiber.
If you slice it thinly, it's ok and you'll
be able to chew it up.
Ok, then you might want to dice it,
make it further. Especially if you were
to use it in a marinade, you would want
to be sure that it's very thin, because
then you have more exposure.
You just stack it, you do not have to peel
it, it will be fine.
You could add this to a marinade
and it will make a nice flavor to it,
especially for meats.
Actually even for some vegetables, you
know you just keep adding this. If you do
stir fry, you always want to put some of
this in.
Because it makes the flavor of it all.
Ok, now the other thing to do with it,
most of the time, is to grate it.
Now, there's a couple of ways to do
that.
On any grater that you buy, they have big
holes, then they have a slicer, and then
they usually have tiny holes. And you go
what in the world are those tiny holes for
they actually are for ginger.
The reason you want to do it on the small
holes is so that the little fibers get
chopped up.
So you don't have stringy ginger, so you
just rub that on there.
On the other side is yours and if you
notice down here, all of the juice.
This is one of the ways you could juice
it, you could do this over a bowl and
collect the juice.
Now, one of my favorite ways to use it,
is I have my little gadget, that I just
think is one of the best things ever
invented.
And I put this in, it's for slicing,
you can use garlic or ginger. Don't have
to peel it.
Then you just slice it up.
And I don't have very many gadgets in my
kitchen, but I have this gadget.
Then you take that off, and it will have
sliced up all of the little fibers.
So that's how to get it really small.
So you can put it into dishes.
Now, most of the time, you do not put it
straight into, if you were going to make
a dish.
There's a cauliflower soup recipe, that
adds it, but they don't put that first
into the oil and heat it up really a lot,
they usually add that later because you
don't want to burn up the ginger.
Most recipes add it in later,
whether they're adding the powder or the
fresh.
Now, when you're looking for it in the
stores you want to be sure that
it's smooth, not wrinkly, not stained.
You take this home.
You can leave it at room temperature
for almost three or four days.
And there's more ways to store this and
I'd go through that on my website.
This is frozen, and I teach you all that
on my website about ginger.
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