Making ginger pickles from homegrown ginger

Pickled young ginger, known as “Gari” in Japanese 新生姜の甘酢漬け, is perfect for cleansing the palate and enhancing the flavors of your meal. I am so excited that I made some from ginger that I propagated at home.

In this post, you will learn how to make your own ginger pickles that is both refreshing and good for health. I will also show you how to grow young ginger in your urban home.

Health Benefits

Ginger is among the healthiest spices on the planet. It is loaded with gingerol, nutrients and bioactive compounds that have powerful benefits for your body and brain. It helps to reduce nausea, morning sickness, and reduces inflammation. (Click here to learn more about the health benefits)

If you want to get the health benefits of eating ginger but you find it too spicy, please try this ginger pickle recipe, the added sugar and vinegar will make the ginger less spicy and more yummy.

Recipe

INGREDIENTS

Preparation:

• 100-150 g Young Ginger (light coloured with pink tips, old ginger is too spicy)

• ½ tsp kosher/sea salt (use half for table salt)

Marinate:

• 100 ml rice vinegar

• 4 Tbsp raw cane sugar (I prefer to use yellow colour coarse sugar)

• ½ tsp kosher/sea salt (use half for table salt)

Steps:

1) Remove the stems, wash and clean your young ginger, break them apart into small piece, then use the back of your knife to scrape off the skin. Remove any brown spots that look rotten.

2) Use a slicer to slice the ginger into very fine pieces. This slicer I used is actually a truffle slicer that I bought in the Borough Market in London.

3) In a bowl, sprinkle 1/2 tsp of salt onto the ginger slices and mix well, let it sit for 5 minutes.

4) Boil some water, and add the ginger to boil for about 1-3 minutes, no longer than that. More spicy if you boil for 1 minute, least spicy if you boil longer.

5) Take the ginger pieces out, use a sieve to sieve out excess water. Use a spoon or your clean hands to squeeze out water. Put into a sterilised glass jar.

6) In a pot, boil 100ml rice vinegar, 4 Tbsp raw sugar, and 1/2 tsp kosher salt. Let it boil for 1 minutes until the vinegar smells evaporates. Let it cool for a bit and pour into the glass jar with ginger.

7) Let it cool down and refrigerate. The pickled ginger can be kept in fridge up to 1 year (if it can last that long!)

How to grow ginger in urban homes

Young ginger is one of the easiest plant to grow anywhere, all you need is a pot of soil, lots of sunlight and water. Pick a ginger from the farmer's market that has several buds on it, separate these pieces by cutting them apart, and just plant them in soil. The ginger pieces will just grow roots and new shoots will come out once it is stable in the new environment.

See my ginger babies that I have grown for several months:

Just continue to let them grow in soil, the ginger roots will get bigger and bigger. Once you see several big shoots growing out from a ginger, you can estimate how big the ginger has become. These ginger plants have become quite tall (about 100cm).

So I pulled them out from the pot! Look how big they have become!

I gave it a nice wash, plucked away the branches and roots, smelled and admired it, and took a picture of it. My first ginger!

I gave this nice piece of ginger to a friend and she ate it with her very yummy beef noodles.

Are you also growing any edible plants too? Can you share some pictures with me and some tips on how you cook them? Look forward to hearing from you. Thanks!