Pickled Young Ginger Food

GARI: JAPANESE PICKLED GINGER

Steps:

• Gather the ingredients.
• Wash the young ginger root and scrape off any brown spots with a spoon. Then scrape off all the skin with a scraper or peel the ginger by hand.
• Slice the ginger thinly and salt the slices. Leave salted ginger slices in a bowl for about 1 hour.
• Dry the ginger slices with paper towels and put them in a sterilized, heat-resistant container or jar.
• Mix the rice vinegar and sugar in a pan and bring to a boil until the strong vinegar aroma has evaporated.
• Pour the hot vinegar and sugar mixture over the ginger slices. If you want to keep the ginger spicy, pour out the liquid after about 1 minute. Otherwise, let the mixture sit for 2 to 3 minutes.
• Drain the slices in a colander and let them cool by placing them on a paper towel in a single layer. The pickled ginger should change its color to light pink; if you are using old ginger, it might not turn pink naturally.
• With clean hands, squeeze the liquid out of the slices and place them in a jar.

HOMEMADE PICKLED GINGER (GARI)

Steps:

• Cut the ginger into chunks and place them into a bowl. Sprinkle with sea salt, stir to coat and let stand for about 30 minutes. Transfer the ginger to a clean jar.
• In a saucepan, stir together the rice vinegar and sugar until sugar has dissolved. Bring to a boil, then pour the boiling liquid over the ginger root pieces in the jar.
• Allow the mixture to cool, then put the lid on the jar and store in the refrigerator for at least one week. You will see that the liquid will change to slightly pinkish in few minutes. Don't be alarmed because it's the reaction of rice vinegar that causes the change. Only quality rice vinegar can do that! Some commercial pickled ginger has red coloring added. Cut pieces of ginger into paper thin slices for serving.

PICKLED VEGETABLES WITH GINGER

Steps:

• Bring 1 cup each cider vinegar and water, 1/4 cup sugar, 2 tablespoons kosher salt, 4 slices fresh ginger, 1 crushed garlic clove and 1 teaspoon peppercorns to a boil in a saucepan. Pour over 2 sliced Persian cucumbers, 1 sliced red bell pepper and 2 small sliced carrots. Let cool. Cover and refrigerate at least 8 hours or overnight.