Fresh ginger is an aromatic rhizome that is known for its amazing health benefits and its wonderful flavor. A rhizome is an underground stem, and is often mistaken for a root. Ginger root is often seen in Asian dishes like stir-fry and fried rice. Ginger tea is a warm and cozy tea that aids in digestion. Ginger is also proven to reduce nausea and can be especially helpful for pregnant women, but the main downside is figuring out how to peel ginger.
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The fresh ginger root you see at the grocery store has a papery skin that makes it difficult to peel. Young ginger is less common in the US, but the ginger skin is so thin, it doesn't need to be peeled. Luckily for you, there are quite a few methods that make peeling ginger a breeze. Once you have your ginger peeled, we have some easy cooking tips, so none of your delicious ginger goes to waste.
Peel Ginger With a Spoon
This method allows you to easily access the ginger flesh without needing a vegetable peeler. You'll need a piece of ginger and the edge of a spoon. All you have to do is scrape the edge of the spoon against the ginger skin. Make sure to only scrape off what you need, and keep the peel on the unused section.
If your ginger is stubborn and you cannot get into the nooks and crannies with a spoon, you'll need a paring knife. Carefully use your knife around the difficult spots to scrape off any extra skin.
Julienne Ginger
Another method for how to peel ginger is to slice ginger into matchsticks. To do this, you'll need a sharp knife. Take the peeled ginger and slice across the grain to form little coins. Stack the coins and slice into a thin match stick shape.
Mince Ginger
Mincing means to cut something into tiny pieces. If you see a recipe calling for chopped or minced ginger, take your match stick pieces, line them up and make crosswise cuts.
Grated Ginger
Another extremely easy method is to grate ginger. If you store a knob of ginger in the freezer, you can just remove it and grate off what you need, without wasting the entire root. To grate the ginger, you'll use a microplane instead of a cheese grater. Just grate the knob across the grain of the fibers and you'll quickly have a pile of grated ginger.
Storing Ginger
You now have the knowledge on how to peel ginger, but what do you do with the leftovers? We suggest candying any extra pieces and storing the rest in the freezer. The easiest way to do this is to keep your peeled or grated ginger in an ice cube tray. That way, when you need a small piece of a recipe, just pop it out and add it to the dish. Ginger stores wonderfully in the freezer and retains all of its aromatic spiciness.
