Crystallised Ginger

I like crystallised ginger, and today I saw some good-looking root-ginger on sale @ 40p per pound. I figured all I really needed was some sugar, and I could turn a big root into tasty-sweet & spicy-lumps. This turned out to be correct.

Some claim that ginger is a remedy for nausea, motion sickness, morning sickness and general stomach upset. I don't, but I like the taste.

Step 1: Ingredients & tools

Fresh root ginger ~1.5 LB (61p)
White refined cane sugar - ~3 LB (most can be recovered)

A knife
A saucepan
A sieve

Comments

[cant_decide]

Just tried this, and even with it still cooling, it tastes great! Now I've got to figure out what to do with the syrup and the excess sugar. Probably going to try one of the ginger ale recipes on here.

[asymptotic]

Pro tip: peel your ginger with a spoon. It's easier to follow the bumps and crevices, and you won't lose as much of the good stuff.

[Phiske]

i may be a little late in commenting, but the spoon peeler idea is awesome. i'm making some now and it totally beats a knife. i live in ecuador and few people have ever seen ginger outside of the chinese communities. so i'll see what my friends here think if it's not to "spicy" for them.

[lemonie]

Interesting, but it'd have to be a sharp spoon? L

[hlfwy.thr]

nope. I saw this trick on the food network, and it works pretty well : )

[damienstafford]

This is awesome! Thank you so much for sharing this. I will be using this for sure!

[Jayefuu]

I need to make some more of this. I just ran out.

[Jayefuu]

Done! Yummy :D

[{tauney}]

mmmm...beer and ginger? delicious!

[lemonie]

It'll be in the next brew... L

[ausphoenixrising]

it's been an age - how did the brew turn out, i find that whole concept rather exciting :)

[lemonie]

It had a touch of ginger, but I was just using the sugar - I can't touch the stuff unless it's been fermented...

L

[nickodemus]

This stuff works wonders for my heartburn, thanks for the recipe!

[lemonie]

Oh good. For myself, I thought "That fresh ginger is cheap, crystallised ginger is expensive." and it went from there.

L

[millersmith]

Being pregnant and often nauseated (ginger really does help for me!) I will cherish this recipe, thanks so much Lemonie!
Cheers!

[The Ideanator]

Last batch of it I made I added a bit too much lemon juice concentrate, the ginger tastes very non-gingery, however the juice from it makes great lemon-ginger tea. Ive got another batch going right now with half of yesterdays syrup.

I routinely have an issue with the coating though, my ginger likes to hold onto some syrup and let it out when coating and stays a bit soggy.

[lemonie]

It needs a good long while in the sugar to dry out. Still this seems to be a great way to make syrup?

L

[The Ideanator]

It makes great syrup, its good when drizzled into cornbread. Its also good on ice cream and easily makes syrup and candy if you boil off alot of the water.

[d2j5]

oooo looks good

[yourcat]

Just made some, and it is great!

I used lemonade instead of water, and the relatively unrefined brown sugar for the cooking. You can taste both of them in the finished product. I used normal sugar for the last bit but there wasn't quite enough of it (this stuff used all of the sugar in the house, white and brown) so it's all really sticky, but who cares as long as it tastes good?

[lemonie]

Oh good. The lemonade will have citric acid in it, interesting idea.

L

[whopoder]

mmm... The pan/container/pot must be lid while boil/cook? (Sorry about my english)

[lemonie]

I did not use a lid, it would surely work with one. L

[kennyeddy]

Covering would reduce evaporation, whihc would lengthen the time needed to reduce the liquid. Also, the possibility exists to boil over when it's covered.

[yourcat]

Hey, how come your July comment is posted as a reply to my October comment? (Glitch)

[vriezed]

I'm going to try this this weekend and I'm pretty excited aboutit.  I also homebrew and am curious as to what type of beer youended up putting this into.  Was it a porter, stout or some Belgianale?  Thank you.

[funwithdiode]

a great bonus is that ginger is great at preventing sea sickness but unlike sea sickness tablets it wont make you lathargic it also tastes great

[lemonie]

I'd heard that but not tried it. But then I like bumpy rides, it's fun to be up and about when half the passengers are feeling ill... I did it for the taste.

L

[yourcat]

Sounds great. I can't wait to try it!

[albylovesscience]

can any one say diabetic coma (i almost got diabetes once)

[lemonie]

What do you mean by "almost got" - you overdosed on sugar? L

[albylovesscience]

my doctor said i was very close to diabetes so i had to cut down on consumption for the whole of 5th grade diets suck :( but it least im healthy now

[lemonie]

Ah right, I see what you mean. L

[mikeasaurus]

ha-HA, very easy indeed! What a difference to the store bough stuff, this ginger is so fresh and soft mmmm! I tried boiling my ginger with a few limes, hard to say if it made much difference the power of ginger overpowers everything. You can't really go back to store bought stuff after making this, the difference is amazing. Maker beware!

[albylovesscience]

*belly rumbles with delight*

[lemonie]

Looks good there. Maybe I should do some baking with mine? L

[mikeasaurus]

Maybe I should do some baking with mine?
You mean with the left over sugar? I thought I read that you were going to use it for home brew? I saved all my extra and will probably do the same, there's an outside chance I'll change my mind and use it when making some tasty pies!

Sadly, it's been 3 days since I made my ginger and I had the last piece last night (shared with 3 friends). How long the ginger lasts is inversely proportional to how tasty it is!

[lapinerobert]

Great recipe. I start with a fruit juice though, enough to cover the root pieces and boil for awhile with out the sugar. The ginger takes on just a hint of the type of juice and after I add the sugar the remaining syrup is excellent. Pineapple ginger syrup over plain yogurt, or a bit of the raspberry ginger syrup in a salad dressing.

[lemonie]

Sounds good, lemon-juice ever? L

[lapinerobert]

Yes, Lemon and Orange both good choices. Robert