Easy Prep Baby Ginger + 5 gingery recipes
Pickled ginger galore + Ginger, Scallion, Carrot Noodles (bonus recipe!)
Hello everyone!
I’ve been sending dispatches twice a week and the volume of content can seem overwhelming. I have a lot to share but eight (8!) times a month of me can be annoying. Moving forward, I’ll try to curb my enthusiasm and aim for weekly Thursday dispatches; when I just can’t help it, you’ll hear more from me.
In many posts, there will be a mix of content, some for free and some for paid subscribers. If you have feelings about the frequency or volume of content, let me know. Thank you! Onwards to our spicy discussion.
Ginger Lovers — It’s Our Time!
From early to mid fall — look for immature, “young ginger” at Chinese, Japanese and perhaps Korean markets. It’s between five and eight (5 to 8) months old. Mature ginger that we typically buy at supermarkets has grown for ten to eleven (10 to 11) months.
Ginger is loaded with antioxidants but according to Virginia State Research findings, young (aka “baby”) ginger is more potent than mature ginger.
Depending on where you shop, young ginger can be pricey but know that it is worth it. Why? Young ginger is juicy and delicate tasting but still with a bit of fire.
It is a ginger lover’s dream.
The blushing pinkish red tips signal its youthful pleasure. Its gossamer skin does not need to be removed during prep! Below are my recent young ginger sightings: Young ginger sourced from Mitsuwa market, spotted at 99 Ranch, and freshly dug up by a Southeast Asian grower in Philadelphia.
In Vietnamese, young ginger is called gừng non. How to say it:
Young Ginger Summary:
How sold: Usually on smallish trays encased in plastic.
Seasons: Early fall (usually September and October) and then in spring time (usually April and May).
Storage: I wrap it in a paper towel and keep it in a zip-lock bag in the fridge. It will dull in color but will taste fine. If you leave it too long, it dries and becomes more like mature (old) ginger.
Easy prep: You don’t have to peel young ginger. Just gently rub or scrape off any papery, loose layers. Then cut it as needed.
How to use young ginger instead of mature/common ginger: Use the same amount of young ginger as you would normally use old ginger, but feel free to add 10 to 20 percent more. It depends on whether the young ginger is a baby (slender with a super creamy texture) or a toddler (chubbier, more mature, with some strands inside).
Young ginger substitute: Use a mild tasting ginger. Such ginger usually looks plump with relatively thin skin. For instance, the variety grown in China has flesh that is creamy and fine, not fibrous. It’s not my first choice for ginger but in a pinch, when you need a young ginger substitute, it’ll work.
Young Ginger Recipes and Eating Tips
You can eat lots of young ginger raw. I’ve occasionally had it served as a nibble with Thai and Lao food, such as sausages and nam khao tod crispy rice salad.
Just cook with young ginger, but do set aside some for pickling. Pickled ginger keeps for years. I make it annually and this year, tried a Chinese recipe.
Here are four pickled ginger recipes — if you want to make it from scratch or simply open up a storebought jar and play with it:
(New!) Chinese pickled ginger offers sweet heat and uses regular white vinegar for great results
Japanese pickled ginger (gari) recipe has tangy heat
Ginger, Carrot, and Scallion Noodles
This year, I bought extra young ginger to make a very gingery stir-fried noodles with carrot and scallion (a fancy name for green onions). It’s a super easy dish that I’ve made four times in the past two weeks to dial in flavors and techniques.
In developing the recipe, I’ve:
Tried different kinds of noodles — fresh and dried, Chinese and Italian.
Make vegan and non-vegan versions.
Cooked the noodles successfully with young and mature ginger (I applied a little hack!).
Tried them out on unsuspecting neighbors and my husband. The noodles were “outrageous” (the review from next door).
Taken the noodles on the road as an in-flight meal.
The noodles got through TSA at the airport and tasted great thousands of feet in the air. You should make the noodles, which are modeled after a Cantonese-style stir-fried noodle recipe. My version uses a little fish sauce so you could conceivably give it a Viet name like mì xào gừng. Either way, this is an easy, delicious, keeper.
The recipe, handy downloadable PDF, and pointers below are a bonus for paid subscribers. If you are not already a premium subscriber and would like the Full Monty recipe plus many others — and support my work, upgrade your subscription. Thanks for considering!