Sweet pickled ginger
Sweet pickled ginger
You’ll recognize pickled ginger if you’ve ever eaten in a sushi restaurant. It is the pale pink condiment that you see on the side of your plate. With its mix of aromatic heat and sweetness, our version is excellent not just as a side dish to sushi but as a garnishment to desserts, particularly those that have more of an Eastern twist. Younger ginger rhizomes are less woody and more tender, plus only young ginger will have a pink tinge when pickled, so we recommend you try to get those for this recipe.
Ingrediënten
MAKES: about 480 ml
- 14 oz 392 g ginger, preferably young
- 2 quarts 2 L plus 45 ml water, divided
- 9 tbsp 135 ml rice vinegar
- 2Âľ tsp 13 g kosher salt, divided
- 5 to 6 tbsp 63 to 75 g sugar, or to taste
Instructies
- Peel the ginger and cut it lengthwise into paper-thin slices 1 to 1½ inches (25 to 38 mm) long.
- In a small saucepan, combine 3 tablespoons (45 ml) of water, the rice vinegar, 2½ teaspoons (15 g) of salt and the sugar, and bring the mixture to a boil over medium heat.
- Cook the mixture, stirring, until the sugar and salt are dissolved.
- Turn off the heat, and transfer the liquid to a clean quart container with a tight-fitting lid.
- In a medium pot, bring about 2 quarts (2 L) of water to a boil over high heat.
- Add the ginger slices all at once, and blanch them for 20 seconds if you’re using young ginger, or 30 to 40 seconds if the ginger is mature.
- Drain the ginger in a large, flat-bottomed colander, spreading the slices so that they dry quickly.
- Sprinkle the remaining ÂĽ teaspoon salt over the ginger slices, and toss gently.
- While the ginger slices are still hot, transfer them to the ready container of pickling liquid.
- When the ginger slices contact the vinegar, they will turn a pretty, faint pink color.
- Refrigerate the ginger for two days, covered, before using.
- Use on top of ice cream, to garnish panacotta or even as a side condiment to fish.
