Ever buy a stub of fresh ginger from the grocery store and end up using it in just one or two dishes, then look in horror as it gets all shriveled in the fridge or on the counter by the garlic? Well, here is a way to add another month of life to the ginger. At sushi restaurants, I used to nibble on the pickled ginger with a bit of wasabi mustard and some soy sauce, though not as a palate cleanser, but simply to eat it. I haven't been able to slice it thin enough at home to replicate the ginger you get at the store or restaurant. Maybe I need a much sharper knife than the RADA knife I picked up last year. I am avoiding artificial colorants. The pink tinge can be added naturally by boiling a small red beet with the vinegar before adding the ginger to the pickling liquid.
Another way to keep the essence of ginger around is to peel the fresh ginger root and slice it into long, thin matchsticks. Then dry the ginger and keep it as a dried spice in a glass jar. I've found this also works pretty well when cooking up clear broths, steaming seafood, and to add to meat-based stews when I've run out of fresh ginger. Nothing tastes quite like fresh ginger and the flavor is far more mild after it's been dried.
At some point I would like to procure a small ceramic ginger grater. I saw it once at the Portland Home & Garden show a couple years ago, and now I can't find it anywhere. It's used in Asian cuisine a lot to get fresh ginger juice from grated ginger. Onto the recipe...
Ingredients
1/2 lb fresh ginger root, peeled and thinly sliced
1/3 c. rice vinegar
2 tbsp cooking mirin
2 tbsp sake (dry and of drinking quality, but not fusion-flavored or carbonated)
2 tbsp organic granulated sugar or brown sugar
Directions
1. Scrub the ginger under water with a mushroom brush or the rough side of a sponge to remove all the dirt. Blanch it in boiling water for a minute or so, then drain.
2. Combine the cooking mirin, sake, and sugar in a small pot and bring it to a boil until the sugar dissolves. To alter the natural beige color of the ginger to a pinkish color, you could add a small red beet in this step. Let cool.
3. In a clean, sterilized jar add the ginger and pour the vinegar over the ginger. Cover the jar and use the ginger within a week, or up to a month if kept in a refrigerator.
