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Health & Fitness

All About Ginger!

Ginger is one of the most popular spices for sweet and savory dishes. Read my latest blog post for information about different forms of ginger and fun preparation tips.

Ginger is one of my favorite spices to use in baking and cooking dishes. The very pungent, bold, and slightly spicy spice is popular in sweet, savory and Asian/Indian dishes. It is native to China and India and from underground rhizome of the ginger plant.

Ginger is available in many forms for the domestic field:

  • Fresh: Looks like lightly caramel-colored knobs. Fresh ginger has the boldest taste versus other forms of ginger. When stored in the fridge, it is good for three months. The downfall of fresh ginger? Peeling it. Use a spoon to "grate" off the excess skin. You can: 1) Grate ginger on a cheese grater. 2) Chop it in long slices. 3) Dice it. I recommend No. 1 and 2 for easiest preperations.

  • Powder: Very easy to use. I love using powder ginger when I am baking gingerbread cookies. A little goes a long way because of the bold taste.

  • Pickled: Light pink, "skin-shaped" ginger. More tart that fresh ginger due to pickling. Mostly used as a side in Asian dishes.

  • Stem: Fresh, peeled ginger that has been cooked in a heavy sugar syrup. Be careful, stem ginger is very bold and HOT.

  • Crystallized ginger: Stem sugar that has been dried and rolled in sugar. Out of all the ginger, it is the sweetest! I love snacking on candied ginger for a light dessert.


I recommend using powder ginger first and seeing how you enjoy the taste of it. I love the taste of fresh ginger, versus powder, but it is a pain to peel and chop. I only use fresh ginger on special-occasion meals.

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With the bold taste, always add a small amount of ginger to your dish, taste it, and add more if necessary. Add ginger in the beginning of a dish with cause a suttle ginger flavor, while adding it at the end of a dish, will cause a bolder and hotter taste.

Suggestions:

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-Ginger shortbread cookies with ginger-infused tea.

-Add fresh ginger slices to an Asian marinade for your chicken or steak dish.

-Topping a gingerbread cupcake with candied ginger.

-Add some to your favorite fruit chutney for a nice, "kick."

-Adding it to your apple pie filling or sweet potato dish.

One of my favorite facts: ginger has many health benefits! It helps gastrointestinal distress, a.k.a. gas and bloating. Also, it has antioxidant effects for your body. Try some ginger tea after you eat a large meal.

Not only is ginger delicious and adds a bold taste to your dishes, it has many nutritional benefits for your internal body. Add some to your favorite dressing, marinade or beverage!

Happy cooking,

Kimm

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