The power of ginger in cooking
Cooking with this ancient spice is a snap as it turns ordinary dishes into something more flavorful, healthful and satisfying
Where would we be without our beloved cartoon and movie superheroes to save the day? Even in the culinary world, we’re obsessed with so-called super foods that we believe can save our health. Enter ginger!
Ginger is truly a spice superhero, used for thousands of years in almost any food or drink one can imagine. A kick from this ancient spice can turn the most ordinary dish into something immensely more flavorful and satisfying.
Biting into the chewy warmth of ginger pieces in a cookie or scone brings a sensation not like chili pepper heat but more of a zing, an instant infusion of energy for your taste buds. Ginger in any form adds a dynamic layer to an entrée, salad or soup.
The dull, khaki-colored, misshapen look of fresh ginger belies its extraordinary superpowers. Who on earth would pick this ugly duckling over the crates of bright-colored produce at the farmers market? But couldn’t the same be said of Clark Kent? In both cases, beneath that unassuming exterior are amazing powers waiting to be unleashed.
Rebecca Myers, owner of RawSpiceBar, a spice-ofthe-month club based in Los Angeles, believes ginger is one of the most underrated spices.
“It’s also one of the oldest spices, having been consumed for thousands of years (5,000, by some accounts) for cooking and in traditional medicine,” she says.
“Ginger works perfectly in both sweet and savory recipes, and its prominence in ethnic cuisines all over the world testify to its versatility. Ginger also pairs well with other spices, like turmeric, coriander and cumin.”
We’re all accustomed to the role powdered ginger plays in baked goods. But this superhero spice can be sliced and diced fresh, or used dried, to flavor veggies, fruits, beef, chicken, seafood and sauces. Crystallized ginger is another option for sweets like candy and desserts, including cookies and cakes and other bakery items such as breads, muffins and scones. Ginger also is used to flavor oils, juices and drinks like ginger ale and ginger beer.
And that’s not even touching on its therapeutic uses.
Medicinally, it’s been used to alleviate nausea from cancer treatment or pregnancy and to relieve muscle pain and inflammation of joints from arthritis. Also well known as a digestive aid, ginger contains
oils that stimulate bile production and at the same time protect the lining of the stomach.
Gingerols, beta-carotene, capsaicin, caffeic acid, curcumin and salicylate are all antioxidant and anti-inflammatory compounds that we’ve been hearing about for some time. And ginger has all of them.
Ginger is mostly a tropical plant found mainly in southeastern Asia. India, China, Nepal, Nigeria and Thailand are the top five producers, according to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.
But it’s not difficult to grow at home. According to gingerplant.net, it’s as “easy as burying plump rhizomes into the ground and watering it a bit.” Another way is to moisten or soak the rhizome with water for two days or until some sprouts grow and then plant it.
However, in Wisconsin, transferring the plant in the cold months to containers will be necessary to keep your root ginger ( Zingiber officinale) going.
Root ginger is not to be confused with wild ginger ( Asarum canadense), native to Wisconsin and used as a shade groundcover with beautiful kidneyshaped leaves. This ginger is not used for cooking, although in “The Garden Book of Wisconsin,” Melinda Myers says that “early European settlers candied or dried the roots of wild ginger for cooking.”
Minnesota forager Alan Bergo has found using small amounts of wild ginger for infusing or flavoring is possible; however, large quantities can be toxic. He describes the flavor of wild ginger as more delicate, not quite as intense as root ginger — complex still but “lacking the bite” of traditional culinary ginger.
When you have a recipe that calls for fresh ginger, but all you have on hand is ground, you can substitute 1⁄ to ¼ teaspoon of ground ginger for 1
8 tablespoon of grated fresh.
Myers of RawSpiceBar says the powdered root her company uses in its blends “gives you the zippy flavor but not the texture of sliced or crushed ginger. The powder is perfect for Japanese rice dishes, mulled wine, marinades and baking recipes like gingersnaps, gingerbreads and muffins.”
Ginger has been used for flavoring liquids from tea to beer and, of course, ginger ale for centuries. In 19th-century Ireland and England, what started as a homemade mixture of probably sugar water with ginger root morphed into ginger soda, which made its way to New York by 1850. Fizziness for the soda came from adding carbon dioxide.
Ginger tea is calming and easy to make with a tablespoon of fresh grated ginger steeped in 2 cups of boiling water. Strain the ginger out and add some lemon and honey. To cool off on the dog days of August, add a sprig of mint and ice to your ginger tea.
Ginger bug might have a funny name, but this is a starter mixture of ginger and sugar that can sit on your counter, with wild microorganisms from the ginger producing carbon dioxide as they consume the sugar.
On her blog Nourished Kitchen, Jenny McGruther explains how to dip into the ginger bug and create homemade fermented drinks with a ginger kick, like root beer, mint or fruit sodas.
Besides ginger ale and ginger beer, mixologists are using ginger spirits to whip up luscious cocktails.
Here’s one adapted from Hotel Jerome in Aspen, Colo.:
Jerome Cucumber
Makes 2 drinks
4 ounces vodka 1 ounce Domaine de Canton (ginger liqueur) Muddled cucumber (see note)
Ginger ale Splash of fresh lime juice Sliced cucumber for garnish
Shake vodka, ginger liqueur and cucumber together with plenty of ice. Strain and pour into 2 martini glasses and top off with cold ginger ale and a couple splashes of lime juice. Garnish each with slice of cucumber.
Note: Crush 3 slices of one medium cucumber with muddler. Mortar and pestle works fine, too.