Pickled Sushi Ginger Recipe How To Make Gari

It’s a great way to preserve fresh ginger, though, and I’ve found it makes for a delicious condiment that can be added to anything from stir-fries to soups, and it also makes for a delicious topping for hotdogs.

Why This Recipe Works?

Young ginger is more tender and less potent than fully matured ginger, which is why it’s usually used for making Gari. Boiling the ginger after slicing it tames the heat of the ginger to a comfortable level. Adding the pink ginger shoots to the pickling brine gives the gari a coral pink color.

Ingredients for Sushi Ginger

Young ginger - Gari is best made with young ginger. This is the rhizome of an immature ginger plant. It can be identified by the pale yellow color of its skin and the bright pink shoots that come off of it. If you can’t find it in your regular supermarket, try checking an Asian grocery store. Rice vinegar - Sushi ginger is traditionally made with rice vinegar; however, distilled vinegar and apple cider vinegar will work fine. Sugar - The sugar balances out the tartness of the vinegar and the spiciness of the ginger. You can adjust the amount of sugar to suit your tastes. Salt - Salt helps preserve the ginger and offsets some of the sweetness of the sugar, but because sushi tends to be quite salty, I don’t like adding very much salt to my Gari. Konbu - This one is optional, but dried konbu (kelp) is loaded with glutamic acid, an amino acid that gives foods the taste of umami.

How to Make Sushi Ginger

After you’ve washed the ginger well, cut off any pink shoots and set them aside. Then you want to segment the ginger into manageable pieces. Next, use a spoon to scrape off the skin. This is the best way to peel ginger because it allows you to get into the nooks and crannies around the nodes. To slice the ginger, I like using a mandoline because it’s faster and more consistent, but you can do it with a sharp knife as well. The thinner you slice the ginger, the less spicy it will be. The thicker you slice it, the crunchier the texture will be. I like going with a thickness that’s about 1.5mm (.06 inches), which is about the thickness of a penny. Boil a pot of water, and then add the ginger. Allow the water to return to a boil, and then cook the ginger for one to two minutes. The longer you boil it, the less spicy it will be, but the ginger will get soft if you let it go too long. Next, drain the ginger and set it aside. By the way, the liquid you drain off from the ginger is essentially shogayu (ginger tea), so if you like ginger, I recommend hanging onto it. It’s delicious warm or makes a refreshing herbal iced tea along with some mint and lemon. To make the pickling brine, add the vinegar, sugar, salt, konbu, and pink ginger shoots to a non-reactive saucepan and heat it just long enough to dissolve the sugar and salt. Don’t let it boil, or you’ll lose too much acidity. Put the ginger in a glass container or jar and pour the hot pickling brine over it. Stir everything together to make sure it’s well distributed, and then pat the ginger down, so it’s fully submerged. Let the sushi ginger pickle in the refrigerator for at least a day. It gets better for about a week though, so I recommend letting the ginger pickle for longer. Gari will keep for months in the fridge, so make a big batch and enjoy!

Tableware

The grey bowl and gold chopstick rest shown in the photos above were sent over by Musubi Kiln. They have a fantastic selection of both classic and modern Japanese ceramics and tableware and they ship around the world. Get 5% off your order by using coupon code “NORECIPES” at checkout.