Good afternoon friends! In recent years, overseas seasoning has become very popular with us. It is used as an additive to various dishes, as an additive to meat, and as a delicacy of sushi. Many simply like the taste of it, so why deny yourself the pleasure? Today I will tell you how to pickle ginger at home. With these recipes, you can easily prepare a delicious condiment.

Do you know why ginger turns pink when pickled? Do you think that they are stained with something like beetroot? The color of the product depends on the large amount of anthocyanins contained in ginger, but they are contained only in the young root. When anthocyanins meet with acid, they turn into a pretty pink color.

The pink color does not always appear immediately, sometimes it appears over time, but, as I said. If the root was young. But if there is a desire, tint the root yourself with the help of beets, who will forbid you?

• Perhaps many of you will be surprised, but there are two types of pickled ginger. The first is known to everyone - it is he who is served with sushi as a help to refresh the taste before a new dish.

Therefore, it is eaten separately and in small quantities. It's called Gary. Agree, this is a very unique phenomenon when the product is used not to enjoy the taste, but to kill this very taste.

• Another type called beni shoga is served as an addition to meat dishes, noodles, and it plays the role of an ordinary vegetable. You can eat quite a lot of such pickled ginger - it stimulates digestion and gives an extra spicy taste to the dish.

It is possible to distinguish between these two types. Gari is made only from a young root, and it is necessarily pink, and cut thinly. But beni shoga can be prepared even from a mature root, often it is not pink. Therefore, carefully read the labels when buying.

Now that you have already begun to understand the intricacies of Japanese cuisine, it's time to move on to recipes for homemade pickled ginger.

As always, I did not stop at just one recipe for pickling ginger at home, I picked up a few for you. The difference in the form of vinegar, the amount of sugar - choose the most suitable for you. A matter of taste is to get a spicier or sweeter product at the output.

How to pickle ginger at home - recipes

• For pickling, choose a young thick ginger root, with a dense skin, discarding dry and shriveled ones.
• If you are lucky and you have found a young root, then do it simply: cut it thinly - thinly, as soon as you can, salt, sprinkle with sugar. And fill with vinegar. Get fresh gari. Well, if you find rice or plum vinegar, but you don’t find it, don’t be upset, use any fruit vinegar, it won’t spoil the pictures. They didn’t find a young root - make beni-shoga, that’s not bad either. And if you don’t have enough pink for beauty, tint it with beetroot or plum juice.
• The list of products is quite small, the basis is rice vinegar. But if it is not possible for you to buy it, then feel free to replace rice with balsamic, apple, wine or any other fruit.

Recipe number 1. X A cool way is suitable if you are not in a hurry.

We will need:

• Ginger, root - 250 gr.
• Salt - 1 tbsp. spoon.
• Sugar - 100 gr.
• Rice vinegar - 200 ml.

How to pickle ginger root according to this recipe:

1. First of all, the root must be cleaned. After that, cut it as thinly as you can, rub it with salt and leave it in a dish with a lid for several hours. Sometimes the root will turn slightly green at the same time, do not be alarmed - this is a natural process.
2. A few hours, and this is 5 - 6, have passed, it's time to pour the marinade on the root and put it in a cold place for several days. The longer the ginger marinates, the less pungent its taste will become and the ginger itself will be softer. A short exposure will give the burning and hardness of the root.
3. The marinade is easy to make: pour vinegar into sugar, boil and pour ginger, folded into a jar. When cool, keep in the refrigerator.

Recipe number 2. Ginger marinated in wine and vodka.

We will need:

• Ginger. Root - 500 gr.
• Wine, red - 50 ml.
• Rice vinegar - 200 ml.
• Vodka or sake, if you find - 50 ml.
• Sugar - 4 tablespoons.
• Salt.

How to pickle ginger according to this recipe at home:

1. Peel the root, put in boiling water and cook for a couple of minutes. Dry and slice thinly.
2. Make a marinade: mix wine and vodka, add sugar, salt. Put on the stove and wait for the sugar to dissolve. After that, pouring in the vinegar, bring the mixture to a boil.
3. Pour the ginger, folded in a jar, when cool, put in a cold place. The ginger will be ready in a couple of days.

Some interesting facts from the life of pickled ginger

• The recipe for a new food additive for us was given to us by Asia. There it is widespread and they know a lot about how to pickle ginger. But before recognizing it as a culinary delight, at first ginger was used for medicinal purposes.
• Ginger was used to treat diseases of the stomach, was given to pregnant women with toxicosis, and fishermen used it for seasickness. It was they who noticed that ginger not only relieves nausea, but also gives strength and strengthens the body.
• By the way, according to the Japanese, the use enhances potency, and the Ancient Greeks knew that ginger is an excellent anti-hangover remedy.
• A British medical reference book of the 8th century states that whose product has proven itself as a remedy for the plague.
• Fresh ginger has been used for cooking in the treatment of colds.

Another interesting fact. Many of us know that in modern culinary culture, pickled ginger is used to cleanse the taste buds and make the next sushi taste more pronounced.

In the old days, the purpose of ginger was completely different. Previously, raw fish was used for food, including when cooking sushi, and there were no refrigerators.
And, as you know, ginger has a disinfecting effect.

Together with wasabi, Japanese fishermen insured against poisoning, realizing that these are powerful antibacterial agents. But raw ginger does not taste very good, so resourceful Japanese fishermen began to pickle it.

I really hope, my dears, that the ginger pickled by you at home will give you pleasure, and you will feel like an experienced housewife. Do not miss the opportunity to shake the imagination of your guests, and your household too, by adding aesthetic delights to the taste delights!

Pickled ginger can be used to decorate salads and sushi. Make a few flowers and put them in a bouquet on a plate - ginger is easy to twist into a flower, it looks very romantic.

I wish you bon appetit and prepare the next story for you. About what? You'll find out soon, let the little intrigue remain.