Peeling ginger

[learning2]

Is there an easy way to peel ginger? Seems once I get around the knots and gnarls I don't have much left. I've tried veggie peelers and knives [They turn the ginger red. Blood you know.] Is there an easier way?

[Caroline1]

I used to peel ginger. What a waste of time AND ginger! Now I simply wash it well, put it in a zip lock sandwich bag, toss it in the freezer. When I want some ginger, out comes the Microplane zester and the frozen ginger, and voila! Magic! The peel seems to vanish, the ginger is very juicy when tossed in the pan, and then the ginger goes right back in the freezer until next time. I do this even for dishes that call for sliced ginger. Well, unless it calls for slices of candied ginger, but that a different horse. Sliced fresh ginger can be rather "pithy" when cooked, and finely grated ginger is just that: finely grated and pith free!

[DuchessNukem]

I buy fattest roots as possible. Then I segment at joints, halve, place fat side down on board, and gently pare. I see that some folks don't peel but I prefer the peeled look.

I don't worry about loss of peels and stubs as waste because, like fourunder, I use them in stock/broth. I add to the bag of frozen veggie ends and they blend beautifully.

[JMF]

Several times a year when I see ginger on sale for $0.99 lb. I buy 10-20 lbs. I run it, peel and all, (I check to see if peel is bitter) through my heavy duty juicer. Some I freeze as is in ice cube trays, then vacuum pack. Stays good forever. The rest I add equal part sugar and make ginger syrup. I then hot can it. It has a several year shelf life. Both the sugar, and the natural antiseptic qualities of ginger, mean it stays good for a long time. Once opened and kept in the fridge it has at least 3-4 months it stays good. Maybe longer but it actually rarely lasts that long.

I also bulk chop ginger in my food processor. Without peeling, and freeze in ice cube trays and vacuum pack as well. Instant minced ginger.

(I don't chop ginger much by hand anymore. Around ten years ago my nephew ran into the kitchen and tackle-hugged me from behind while I was chopping ginger. I cut off the whole top 1/3" of my left middle finger. Thankfully it was reattached with no problems and is fully functional and no nerve damage.)

[MplsM ary]

I hate it too, so I try the spoon method which works sometimes. Mostly I just suck it up and use a paring knife. I buy large amounts and peel it all and then preserve my work in alcohol. Right now I have a rather large jar of rummy ginger and the last little knob of vodka ginger (That'll be used for hot lemonade when next I have a cold).

[cheesemonger]

Peeling ginger? Never done it.

I use a bamboo ginger grater that produces pulp without strings and peel. Easiest thing ever.

[pdxgastro]

My friend returned to Japan and left me his porcelain grater which I had always coveted. :o)

[raytamsgv]

Have you considered using young ginger? The peel is actually very soft, and the flavor is far milder than older ginger.

[Chemicalkinetics]

Young ginger is awesome, but much more difficult to find.

[HillJ]

True, I wish I could find it year round. Only spring time in my Asian market here in NJ-CA, much easier.

[ipsedixit]

Costco has them sometimes.

[HillJ]

Can't say I've ever seen fresh young ginger at Costco/NJ in all my years as a member-but it would be lovely if they did carry it.

[Chemicalkinetics]

Heh heh heh. They do carry the young gingers sometime, don't they? Regardless, my point is that using young ginger as a substitution for old ginger is not a year-round solution.

[HillJ]

If Costco in NJ carries it, I have not seen it there. I do buy it in the Asian markets when avail tho. I actually enjoy this variety more....but I got your pt. Chem.

[JMF]

I stock up on young ginger. Ginger in general freezes well. So does galangal. A gently brushing while washing removes the skin, but with young ginger I don't even bother peeling much of the time.

With regular ginger I sometimes don't bother peeling and just wash with a brush. Sometimes even mature gingers peel comes off with a veggie brush.

[Veggo]

I peel the easy parts, ignoring the nooks and crannies, and then I use a fine grater I bought just for ginger, and the remaining peel somehow unpeels on top of the grater and doesn't pass through it.
Also, as Ipse advises, steer clear of ginger that resembles the illustrations in the Boy Scout Handbook about tieing knots.

[ipsedixit]

Gordian Ginger. Yum!

[fourunder]

I know many Chinese who do not peel ginger and the thought to do so has never entered their mind.

I cut off dried ends and knots...crush them or add them directly to stock.

Whether I peel or not depends on whether I'm serving to company or for myself

If I do peel, I use a spoon or the back of a butter spreader knife.

[HillJ]

I wash the root really well. Paper cloth to dry and then I use a super fine microplane to grate the fresh ginger, peel & all. I never peel ginger.

[Chemicalkinetics]

Using spoon or knife spine is one way. The other way is to cut ginger in section and then peel the skin. This way you will lose less.

[escondido123]

I have found that once I cut off the knobs, the easiest way to "peel" it is to grate the skin off all sides....take that away and you can then just grate it.

[ipsedixit]

Pick and buy ginger with less knots and gnarls.

[Perilagu Khan]

Sage advice.

[johnb]

I find ginger is pretty cheap and it's not worth the work trying to salvage every little part. So I just look for fairly fat knobs with as few little gnarls as possible. When I need some, I cut off a piece of the trunk crosswise to yield a smooth and uniform, barrel-shaped chunk, then put the cut edge down on a board and go around slicing off the peel. It's easy enough to save the pieces of peel and the rest of the non-uniform parts for another purpose if one wants to do that.

[Bacardi1]

That's what I do as well.

[tcamp]

Yep, this is the easiest way.

[Perilagu Khan]

The same.

[scubadoo97]

Cheap it's not. At least not in our local grocery stores. Average 5 bucks a pound. I try to buy mine at local Asian markets where the price is more realistic.

[queenscook]

Even at $5 a pound, that's only 31 cents an ounce. I just measured the piece of ginger I currently have; it's 3 inches by 1 inch, and doesn't even weigh 2 oz. And if I grated it, I'm sure it would give me at least 2 or 3 tablespoons full. I have never made anything that called for that much, so I would still call that pretty cheap.

[scubadoo97]

I dont use a lot of saffron per dish but saffron is expensive. When a plant root that is easy to grow is the price of steak that's still expensive to me. Especially when I find it fresher for nearly half the price. But I know where your coming from

[LBinFL]

I also use a spoon. Most times I use a microplane to grate the ginger into my recipe, very little waste this way.

[wonderwoman]

second this. i've found that for some reason, the microplane grates only the ginger, not the peel, so it doesn't have to be peeled. and no biting into a chunk of ginger.

also, i store my ginger in a glass jar in the freezer -- doesn't dry out.

[mpjmph]

Same here. It I need slices of ginger, I use a spoon. If I'm grating, I just grate it peel and all.

[Perilagu Khan]

I actually loathe peeling garlic more than peeling ginger. Dam' garlic oil is sticky stuff, dontchaknow.

[rccola]

I'm sure you know this: Unless you want a whole clove of garlic, put a broad knife's side on the clove and bang your fist on the other side of the knife. The peel will slide right off and the clove be smushed down and ready to chop.

[Perilagu Khan]

Yes, I've done that. Banging the clove with the palm of your hand also works. But almost inevitably, the peel splinters somewhat, the oil goes everywhere, and I still wind up with rather a mess. Ginger, by comparison, is fairly neat--if not somewhat persnickety--to work with.

[rccola]

I've not had that happen--the oil going everywhere. Sometimes cloves are still whole. Perhaps a Khan bang is more powerful?

Using your palm = smushed clove on palm.

Try side of knife with gentle bang!

[Perilagu Khan]

I'll endeavor to go more gently into that good kitchen.

[tcamp]

Interesting, I've never had the oil spattering problem. You must be much stronger than I.

I use a small rock, flat on one side and fitting perfectly into my palm. Line up the cloves on a cutting board, then gently whack each one with the garlic rock. Cut off the base of the clove and the skin slips right off.

[JMF]

I used to use a rock as well. I lived in Maine for three years recently and found a perfect beach rock. It was curved on one side to nicely fit my hand, just large enough so that I couldn't accidentally get my fingers underneath, and almost perfectly flat on the bottom. I also had one similar with more of a rounded bottom that I used as a pestle. I have them packed away with most of my kitchen gear currently since I am living in a small apartment right now and have a house full of furniture and kitchen gear in storage. I think I will have to pull them out and start using them again.

[MplsM ary]

This link has been posted many times here, but it bears repeating: Hot to Peel a Head of Garlic in Less Than 10 Seconds... http://www.saveur.com/article/Video/v...

I just love when he tells you to "... shake the dickens out of it." I bought a plastic lidded container for use as garbage bowl and garlic peeler (of course washed between uses for either task).

[Midlife]

I've never tried that method, but most heads of garlic I buy won't even get past the first stage. Slamming my palm down on them does NOT free all the cloves. On many cloves, the skin is anchored tight to the root end and isn't coming free easily without 'smushing' and, even then, I often have to cut the root end first. Just sayin'. The only real difficulty I have is when I want whole cloves and just can't get the skin to come free. I don't really mind garlic under my fingernails, but it happens.

[JMF]

for whole cloves the best thing is a garlic peeler. A rubber tube about 6" long, and 1.5" diameter made of thin rubber. Put a clove in and rub tube between two hands. Removes the skin easily.

[lsmutko]

I just recently learned to use a spoon. The papery peel comes right off, leaving you maximum yield of the root.

[Kalivs]

+1 for spoons!

[scubadoo97]

+2

[letsindulge]

+3. Very minimal waste.

[TraderJoe]

I wash the ginger first or wet it before using the spoon. I also find ginger freezes really well so I grate and freeze small pouches that I form from plastic wrap. It's super handy to just pull one from the freezer all cleaned and ready when I want it.

[grayelf]

I made chicken adobo for NYE dinner and the spoon trick was mentioned in the recipe. I had never seen it either despite cooking many different gingerroot-using dishes over lo these many years.

I have to say I tend to use either the microplane method if I need fine ginger or the cut-a-cross-section-and-peel method. Or just smash a big piece up a bit and toss it in whole, if I'm feeling really lazy and it's a braise-type dish.

[letsindulge]

Hmmm...ginger in chicken adobo?!

[grayelf]

Bit of a modern take, from Kevin Luzande.