Fresh Ginger

Townie Numpty here. Ginger. I suppose I peel it? Wotafaff. It’s so expensive, what if I grate it with skin on.

You don’t normally need a great deal of it for most recipes, so chopping off a bit and peeling that isn’t too bad. The skin’s not overly pleasant in texture. Don’t know if leaving it on would give any other problems as I always peel it :smiley:

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You can try scraping off the skin with a spoon a la James May

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Didn’t know he was a chef, @Ancient_Mariner :smiley:

He absolutely isn’t, but it’s a technique shown to him by a proper cook.

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Remove a small part of the skin with a sharp kitchen knife, grate as much as you want. Put in a freezer bag and freeze.

When you require more at a late date r, just repeat but from frozen. SIMPLES.

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I never take the skin off, I use it mainly grated in curries :fire:,
Or finely chopped when making ginger wine :wine_glass:
The skin is supposed to be a lot hotter than the flesh, though I’ve not confirmed this.

That’s interesting to know @hairbear - thank you

I peel a root, pop it in the freezer, and then grate from frozen as needed…

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I vaguely remember sticking the ginger root in boiling water for a minute or so to make peeling easier :thinking:

I’m going to have a go growing my own ginger next year as well as garlic. I’ve already got more corriander seed than I can use from last year, as it grows like a weed here. Am going to try cumin next. If I get a good crop of ginger and garlic, I’ll pure both and freeze them in small balls of about a tablespoon. I use lots of both in curries, which I’m really getting into cooking. They will last at least 6 months in the freezer.

OMG so envious

ew corriander grows like a weed here.

tried and failed in Amboise

Am going to try cumin

bravo

I like curries, but know so many Brits who’ve ‘done a curry’ for their new French neighbours’ and found that it wasn’t as well received as they hoped.

The funny thing is that although the French often don’t like (British Empire?) curry, they’re usually very happy to eat merguez, couscous, tagines and (lovely) Lebanese food.

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But none of those taste like an Indian curry (mind you, nor does ‘English’ curry). I’m sure that for most people, appreciation of flavour is learned* and developed over time, and the Indian side of things used to be well outside a typical French persons experience despite their affection for North African foods. perhaps given time and careful marketing the French will become as familiar with Indian-style (or Bangladeshi/Pakistani) food as the British are.

*There is a genetic component to experiencing taste too, but that’s not talked about very much.

@hairbear …easy to grow but it’s not fast. Beware of buying ordinary supermarket ginger to plant as if might have been (heat? ) treated to stop it sprouting for longer shelf life, so buy a bio root.

My neighbours (on the left) are from Morocco, and she is a chef. I mainly cook traditional Indian food, not BIR food. I’ve been promissing them an indian banquet for a while now, but things have always got in the way. It will happen in the next couple of months, I’m determined. After that, I’ve been promised a North African banquet in return. Can’t wait.

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I always use a potato peeler, then grate it.

It makes your hands smell nice.

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That is the best way. A teaspoon.

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I scrape it a bit with the back of my enormous scary cleaver, then either slice it or whack it then chop it into purée.

Useful tip, deal with garlic onion etc first then ginger, your hands will smell nicer.

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Ginger is not expensive if you break a small piece off at the supermarket and only buy that.

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