 The Ginger Root (Zingiber officionale) is actually a rhizome (underground stem or corm) that has been in use both as a culinary spice and a medicinal herb for more than five thousand years in China, India and the Middle East.  It is one of just a handful of plants that are considered to be both a spice (ground dried ginger) and an herb (fresh ginger root).
It is widely used in every single Far East country and in many Caribbean islands. Â
The word ginger is derived from the Sanskrit sringavera, which translates as "antlers" in reference to its intricately twisted shapes.
One of my botanical sources says that ginger was introduced and naturalized in the Americas by Spaniards, after the 'discovery of the "New World"'....
It had been transplanted from the East Indies into Spain and then exported to the West Indies wherever Spaniards settled...but another source mentions that the Chinese immigration to work the railroads was the actual beginning of the popularity of ginger in the Americas.
According to an article in an old Better Homes and Gardens issue, ginger "contains formidable cancer-fighting antioxidants, reduces factors that cause blood clots and arterial plaque to form, and shows promise as a reducer of cholesterol. It appears to enhance insulin, which could lead to its eventual use in diets for persons with non-insulin dependent diabetes".
Fresh ginger in today's world markets comes from Brazil, Costa Rica, Fiji and of course, Hawai'i, Indonesia and the Philippines. There are many small ginger farms located in the area of our island where I live.  It is fun to see small farm trucks loaded with plastic laundry baskets or boxes filled to the gills with ginger freshly harvested from the fields being taken to Hilo in preparation for exporting.  Â
I had hoped to stop at one of the nearby ginger fields to take photos of how ginger grows, but we have had so much rain lately that the fields were too muddy and I was afraid to get the car stuck in the mud.
We all know ginger ale is great at controlling nausea and settling your stomach when queasy, and hot ginger tea relieves coughs and colds, weak appetites and poor circulation.
For more information on the beneficial uses of ginger and other Eastern medicinal herbs and foods read "A Spoonful of Ginger" by Nina Simmons (Knopf). You will be amazed at how your own garden or nearest farmer's market can be your source of healing remedies!
Another wonderful source for ginger information is the book Ginger East to West: The Classic Collection of Recipes, Techniques, and Lore by Bruce Cost and Amy Pertschuk
The following recipe for making ginger syrup was shared with me by a friend who lives nearby. It can be used to add just that extra touch to iced or hot tea, on ice cream, over pancakes, waffles and French Toast. Let's see how many more ideas you can come up for using delicious ginger syrup!
Ginger Syrup
7 quarts water
2Â pounds ginger, washed, not peeled, cut into 2" chunks
6 cups sugar
Boil ginger in water for 1 1/2 hours. Strain out ginger which can be used for making ginger tea. Add sugar to the liquid. Boil 20-30 minutes until it's the thickness you want, thick and runny is my choice.
Bottle and refrigerate.
Drink a sake cup full when you have a tickly throat or a stuffed up nose.
Excellent on vanilla ice cream or cream puffs too...
SOURCE: Carol Peters - Akalina Farms - Hamakua Coast, Big Island of Hawaii
HINTS FOR STORING GINGER
There are several ways to store ginger when you have an over abundance...these two are my favorite:
If I have lots of ginger on hand and don't plan to use all of it soon, I like to slice it in several large pieces and store in a jar filled with dry Sherry wine, not the so-called Cooking Sherry.  It can last a long time in the refrigerator this way.  This will prevent the ginger from spoiling faster and the Sherry will absorb the ginger taste and can be used to flavor stir-fry vegetables and other dishes.
Many recipes call for equal portions of minced ginger and garlic. I like to mince and/or grate larger quantities than needed for a recipe, mix the two and store in a tightly sealed glass jar in the refrigerator and just use as needed. This saves a lot of time when you are preparing a recipe that calls for just a little bit of both.
GINGER TRIVIA -Â SOURCES: Here and there!
-Ginger root= is the common name for the knobby rhizomes of the Alpinia galanga plant. This is the most widely used ginger.
1 tablespoon fresh ginger=1/4 teaspoon ground
1/4 cup sliced =1 ounce
-Ground ginger is not a good subtitute for fresh; but dried, whole ginger will work in a pinch, as well as the minced or pureed ginger sold in jars.
-Chinese ginger= is the common name for the Kaempferia galanga, or fingerroot. This type is more popular in Thailand. Resembles fingers jutting out from a hand.
-Pickled Sushi ginger = the ginger used to garnish sushi plates is harvested no older than 3 months after planting, where normally ginger would be harvested at 8 or 9 months. the skin is pink and almost translucent when it is young.
-When preparing a Thai dish if the recipe calls for GALANGA, you can substitute with common ginger.
-Green ginger= or baby ginger, is just the pink-tipped, shiny pieces of very young ginger. Very mild and usually don't need to be peeled. Easy to find in Asian markets.
-Turmeric= or Indian ginger, has a very pungent flavor, but it's more widely known for it's brilliant yellow color. You can find the fresh roots in Asian and Indian markets, but dried turmeric is far more commonly used. It can stain your hands and clothing, so use carefully!
1 piece fresh tumeric=1 teaspoon powdered.
Interesting side note:
In Hawaii the tumeric plant is called Olena.  The plants bloom around April. Some varieties have white, icy pink or icy blue blooms. The bloom spike comes up before the foliage. It is a beautiful plant!
| Â |  |  |  | Â |
Sonia Martinez, Gather Food Correspondent | ||||
Sonia's column, 'Tropical Taste' is a regular twice-monthly feature of Gather Essentials: Food. Sonia is a cookbook author and freelance food writer for several publications in Hawaii, and is also a Hawaii Island Journal restaurant reviewer in partnership with her son Anthony Mathis. Â She lives in a beautiful rural rainforest area on the Big Island of Hawaii. You can keep up with Sonia's adventures and ongoing love affair with Hawaii by joining her network, or visiting her food & garden blog at Sonia Tastes Hawaii. | ||||
 | ||||
recommend
Facebook
Twitter
bookmark 
print
Comments: 43
David, the ginger and garlic penne sauce sounds delicious! Thank you!
Faith, I have some turmeric growing in the yard and we used it once in a juicer with carrot and celery - It turned everything it touched deep saffron yellow!!!!
.........the mess it made convinced me I didn't want to use it and jut let the plant bloom year after year and spread... I have never used it fresh to cook with...and I do have a small container of dried galangal I used in an Indian recipe once and never used it again...the turmeric in my spice cabinet has not been used yet. ;-)
Thanks for the comment and read, Richard...loved your timbale recipe!
About storing ginger, all I do when I have an over abundance of them is to wash them real well, peel, slice into 1/2" slices, stick them in a bag and save them in the freezer. That's it. No processing or blanching. When I need some for cooking, the half-inch slice is all I usually need at one time.
Most of our Filipino dishes, when cooked with coconut milk, require a small amount of grated fresh ginger. It enhances the flavour of the dish! Try it sometime.
For steeping into tea, smashing the small chunks first, will release the flavour faster and richer. In the Philippines we make a very pungent therapeutic tea we call Salabat . It is refreshing on cold mornings and quite soothing to the throat when one has a cold.
Salabat is the traditional drink of the Filipinos when we break our fast after "Misa de Gallo" the Mass of the Rooster, a novena of Dawn Masses celebrated for 9 days before Christmas. With Salabat we usually eat the traditional Puto Bumbong , a cylindrical cake of violet rice (pirurutung) steamed upright in a bamboo tube, and Bibingka a savory rice cake often garnished with red salted eggs and carabao (water buffalo) milk cheese.
Now you've made me homesick for those yummies!
Thank you, J!
Thank you for asking, Liz. She is doing as well as can be expected. We are trying to coordinate a 'celebration of Peter's life' - in about 2 weeks....lots of relatives from both Peter's and Linda's families will be flying over and as soon as we have more details, we shall know de date to set it....another friend and I are coordinating all the food for the celebration. We will hold it in the same beach park where we hold our 'gourmet dinners' as bith Peter and Linda were long time mebers of the group.
Raw ginger, and ginger tea work very well for nausea...
Thank you, Katrina... I have a few pieces in the freezer, but most of what I have at the moment is either in sherry or minced with garlic in the refrigerator!
Yes, it is, Joan....thanks for reading and commenting!
I hope Will feels better soon and since I don't have a steak in the superbowl, I hope his Patriots win for him!
I love cooking with it. I love the taste of it.
Thanks for the wonderful article and great pictures.
We buy a brand of ginger beer made in small batches like you mention at one of our health food stores in Hilo....It is delicious!
I told him no but if he got the recipe from the person we could, He will be so happy
I think I have a little budding chef on my hands :))
Also have you ever added it to : (carbinated water,club soda,7-up) it may taste simular to the soda..??I really like the tea Idea as we use ginger alot to for baking.
Slice as much ginger as you want in slices about 1/4" thick or thinner if you can - no need to peel it.
Place in a large pot of water and bring to a boil. turn heat down and let it simmer for about 20 minutes.
Let cool and pass through a sieve or colander.
Can be stored in refrigerator in a juice or water bottle. As you need some, pour and heat in microwave if you want it hot or over a glass of ice if you want it cold. Can be sweetened or not, according to your taste - I don't
Don't discard the pieces of ginger that you used, as they can be boiled again and again - maybe 3-4 times to make more tea.
Each time the tea will be a bit weaker, so use less water or boil longer.
We expect close to 80 people!
Have you ever made crystalized & un-crytalized ginger pieces with the syrup..??
Do you think it would work??
Like the way people here have made it with grapefruit & orange skins..???
CANDIED GINGER
2 cups peeled ginger, cut into 1/4" diagonal slices (*)
Salt
4 cups water
1 cup sugar
Extra sugar for coating
Place ginger slices into a saucepan. Cover with cold water, add a pinch of
salt, bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for 30 minutes.
Then drain the ginger, rinse under cold water and drain again.
Repeat this process 3 more times, each time using cold water and another
pinch of salt.
Return ginger to saucepan, and add 4 cups of water and 1 cup of sugar.
Bring to a boil.
Lower heat and simmer until a thick syrup coats the ginger (1 1/4 hrs).
Sprinkle a 1/4" layer of sugar in a small baking dish.
Using a fork, transfer ginger slices to sugar, turning to coat them well.
Cool coated slices on a wire rack for at least an hour.
Store airtight (will keep for several months).
(*) Use ginger that is not too old looking - the fresher the better
I was looking at the bulk food section to buy some spices, they wanted $9.52 a pound for crytalized ginger, I did not buy it, I was thinking of trying to do it myself...
Thanks for the tips, I will have alot to do with ginger root now :))
I was missing you and haven't seen any thing by you the last few days, as I was hunting for article "for me" - I will click on your name in a bit and see what you've been up to!
I will be in touch with many of you personally - going through a lot of stuff right now, so have been away from Gather except to respond to comments....
Anybody have a good easy recipe for Ginger Beer?
You Can View That Post By Clicking HERE.
Congratulations!
I hope you will have time to view the other spotlighted posts.
Have a wonderful Valentines Day!