Ultimate Fresh Ginger Hack

Jan 20

Fresh ginger is so spicy and fragrant, that a little touch is all you need to really bring a curry to life. Not to mention that fresh ginger and lemon tea has almost magical healing properties when winter threatens to take you down. Ground ginger is certainly convenient and has a worthy place in my kitchen, but it lacks the punchy zing and long lasting heat that you get from fresh.

The catch is that, unlike ground, I don’t always have a handy little piece of ginger sitting in my fridge just waiting to take center stage in a soup or stew.

Fear not, because I have been doing something that makes it a lot easier and it think might help some of you too.

I mince large quantities of ginger and freeze them in an ice cube tray for later use. Not at all revolutionary but it has made such a difference in our home that when we ran out the other day, I really did feel the pinch.

Here goes:

First get the juiciest freshest looking ginger you can - plump and smooth.
Break the ginger roots into small pieces so that there are no areas where dirt can hide or become stuck
Soak the ginger in water for a couple of hours to loosen the dirt
Scrub it under running water to get rid of stubborn dirt. I do not peel it. Instead I remove the papery skin if it’s very obvious and cut off the dried ends and any damaged sections. This way means that I use as much of the actual plant as I possibly can maximizing fiber and dollar-value while minimizing wastage. Once everything has been blitzed up in the blender you’d never know the difference.
Cut everything into even chunks before placing in the blender jug
Add just enough water to get your blender blades turning and bend everything to a smooth paste. You will likely need to stop and scrape down the sides a few times as you go. Adding more water will not affect the end use at all, but it will take up more space in your freezer and could throw off your measurements
Spread the mixture into your icecube tray, cover with parchment paper and freeze overnight.
Once fully frozen remove from the trays and store in a ziploc bag for easy access.
Enjoy!

Here’s the step-by-step with photos, please click through to see them all

This is the kind of ginger you want to use - plump and firm with a smooth almost shiny skin

Cut off areas like this - any spot where pieces have broken off and dried out

Here are my offcuts - really not much compared to how much ginger I managed to keep. This would be a much bigger pile had I peeled everything

Washed, trimmed and cut into chunks ready for the blender

Place the ginger in your blender with just enough water to get the blades turning nicely

You may have to stop a few times to scrape down the sides. If your blender is really struggling, add more water until everything spins easily

This is the consistency I like - smooth enough to add to anything that asks for 'minced ginger' - not a super smooth paste.

Spread your mix into an ice cube tray, or similar. This is actually a 'brownie bites' mold. Each section is 2tbsp which is a useful measure, not to big, not to small!