Frozen Ginger

I recently was turned on to a little cooking tip that I feel is quite worthy of sharing--freezing ginger.  I don't recall now where I read it....undoubtedly on a blog somewhere....I feel like it was a comment on post....but the origin has escaped me.  No matter where it came from I just wish I had heard about this idea years ago!

Matt and I both love fresh ginger.  We try to have it on hand as it goes so well in a variety of dishes.  However, despite always picking the smallest amount of ginger possible (it is just Matt and I after all) we were regularly ending up with the last nub going bad in our fridge.  And I absolutely hate wasting food.  I hate it.  It makes me angry with myself that I've not only wasted my own hard-earned money, but that I wasted the precious time and resources that it took to grow the food.  It also makes me angry because I wanted to eat it darn it!  Composting can sometimes make me feel a little better about it, but not good enough.  I shouldn't allow perfectly wonderful, organically grown produce to mold in my fridge.  I should use it!  That is why I bought it!

This is where the tip comes in:  Fresh ginger can be peeled and then frozen and it tastes just as fresh, but last much longer!

So, we bought a fairly large root of ginger at the shop and did just that.  We are now down to the last little nub, you know, the one that would have gone bad in the fridge.... except that is not going to happen to this one.

It is awesome.  Say I'm making curry and thinking "Oh, do I have any ginger?!"  Well, sure enough I got a small bag full in the freezer! 

Frozen ginger also seems to shred/grate better than it does when fresh.  I've found there are fewer long strings of ginger and more tiny shaved particles which distribute nicely throughout the dish.  I, personally, find it more texturally pleasing to my mouth.


I don't know how long it will stay fabulous in the freezer, but we've had ours in for several weeks now and so far so good. 

And there you have it.  No more wasting delicious, delicious ginger!  Hooray!

Comments

  1. Good idea! There are so many things that can be frozen. Sometimes, I just try and see what will happen with a frozen item. Then, I am thrilled it did not waste good food and money. Plus, I have the surplus in the freezer, making a trip to the store unnecessary.

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  2. I shall have to get more adventurous in what I freeze it sounds like. What is the strangest food you've frozen?

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  3. I've been doing this for a while. And the ginger will last for months. I keep mine in a freezer bag and just shave some off when I need it. Fantastic, and you are so right about the texture.

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  4. It is one of those little cooking tidbits that while simple and small makes we want to shout "Why didn't I hear about this years ago?!"

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