Most often hostesses use ground ginger, which can be bought at any store. But people who know a lot about spices, seasonings and spices claim that fresh ginger is many times better than dry in taste and flavor.
Ginger root, from which dry seasoning is made, is quite affordable spice. Of course, its price is high, but to get the dish spicy, slightly burning and at the same time spicy, a lot of ginger is not needed.
Therefore, any hostess can always buy a small ginger root, use some of it for food, and put the rest into the refrigerator until the next time. Especially since ginger is kept there pretty well. The main thing is that all storage rules are followed.
Which ginger can be stored
Ginger is a thick, dense root, covered with light brown thin skin, with a pleasant strong smell and burning pepper taste. Inside it is light yellow or bright yellow in color, which directly depends on its age.
Buying a root on the market, you first need to pay attention to its appearance.
- The root should be dense, elastic, covered with a thin skin. Dry, dense skin suggests that the root is not the first freshness and has been lying somewhere for a long time. A shriveled, faded look will tell about prolonged and improper storage. After all, like any root vegetable, ginger eventually loses moisture and this makes it less juicy and fragrant.
- There should be no obscuration at the root. And if it is stored in a damp room, it soon becomes stained, its bright flesh darkens, its aroma and taste deteriorate.
How to store ginger root
Ginger is stored in the refrigerator. After all, only low positive temperature and high humidity will help to preserve fresh ginger. And then for a short time.
So that the ginger root does not dry out or wrinkle, it is packed in food film, but in such a way as to completely eliminate the access of air. For this, a small plastic bag with a zip-clasp or a bag designed to freeze food is suitable.
Before you send ginger for storage, it is inspected for the presence of spoiled places. Wipe with a paper napkin so that it is not wet. The skin of the ginger does not scrape. Firstly, it is thin, and secondly, it protects the root from drying out.
Peel the ginger just before laying in the dish. Moreover, the skin is not cut off, but only peeled off with a knife just as they clean young potatoes or carrots.
So that the ginger root does not start to deteriorate and become covered with mold during storage, you can first wrap it well in a paper napkin, and then just put it in a plastic bag, be sure to let the air out of it. In this form, it may lie in the refrigerator for several weeks.
If ginger needs to be kept only for a week, then it can be put in the refrigerator without packaging. But in this case, there should not be any other products, as ginger has a strong smell, which can easily be transmitted to them. The most optimal place in the refrigerator for storing ginger - a compartment for vegetables and fruits.
How to freeze ginger
If ginger needs to be stored for a longer period, for example, for 2-3 months, some housewives resort to using a freezer. Although experts on this spicy plant claim that ginger does not tolerate temperatures below 0 °. And they say that its useful properties during freezing are significantly reduced.
But the housewives prefer to keep the ginger at least in this way, instead of throwing it into the trash when it disappears completely, being in unprofitable conditions for him for a long time.
Method 1
- To avoid further difficulties with the use of frozen ginger, it is cleaned and rubbed on a grater in advance.
- Then spread out in small portions on the tray, covered with parchment, and put into the freezer.
- When the ginger is completely frozen, it is put in sachets or plastic containers.
- If you need shredded ginger to cook a dish, you just need to take a frozen slice from the bag and use it for its intended purpose. And you can not even defrost.
Method 2
Ginger root can be frozen, cut into slices or cubes.
- Chopped ginger is laid out on a tray and frozen.
- Then they are shifted into small sachets and tightly tied.
Frozen ginger can be stored in the freezer for about 6 months.
How to store ginger in honey
Everyone knows the healing properties of ginger. It helps well for colds. Therefore, it can be grated and mixed with honey. First of all, honey is a good preservative and ginger will not disappear in it. And secondly, with such a combination the useful properties of one and the other product will increase.
How to dry ginger
If a lot of ginger, for example, dug a rich harvest of this root, then it can be dried. After all, dried ginger retains all its beneficial properties and taste. At the same time, harvested at home, it turns out much more fragrant that ginger powder, which is sold in the store.
- Ginger root is washed, spread on a towel and dried from moisture.
- Scrape the skin off with a knife.
- Ginger cut thin plates. This is a prerequisite, since thick slices dry worse and can moldy during storage.
- The cut ginger is laid out on a baking sheet covered with parchment and sent to the oven.
- Dry it at 50 ° for one hour. Then the slices are turned over to the other side and sent back to the oven for another hour.
- Drying is considered complete if the slices do not bend, but break.
- Dried ginger is stored in hermetically sealed glass containers in a dry place at room temperature for about two years.
Use of ginger in cooking
- Dried and fresh ginger is added to meat, fish dishes. Thanks to him, the smell of fish becomes weaker, and the taste of meat improves.
- Ginger is used in pickling vegetables and making vegetable salads. This spice is often found in dishes of Japanese, Korean, Chinese cuisine.
- Ginger is added to pastries: cookies, muffins, gingerbread.
- Very tasty tea is obtained with the addition of this spice. Ginger improves digestion, increases appetite, reduces nausea.
- It is part of many spice mixes. For example, in the Indian seasoning curry is a required component.
- If there are dried ginger slices in stock, then it is crushed into powder as needed, since its chopped essential oils evaporate more quickly and it loses most of the flavor.
- Dry ginger can be replaced with fresh. But it must be remembered that ground ginger is put in food in smaller doses than shredded root. If the recipe states that you need to put a tablespoon of fresh ginger, then instead of it put only a quarter of a teaspoon of dry powder.
