Ginger root is a rhizome (an underground stem) used as flavoring in many cultures. The ginger plant is native to South East Asia, but the root and young buds are also used extensively in China, Japan, Korea, the West Indies and the United States.
It is a staple in Indian cooking, imparting a hot, aromatic flavor to chutneys, curries, and vegetable dishes. In Japan, pickled ginger cleans the palate while minced ginger in Korean kimchi intensifies the flavor of the spicy peppers. The unique flavor of Vietnamese Pho (soups) is a combination of ginger, cinnamon and other spices. Chinese often use ginger in soups, stir-fries, steamed and braised dishes. Ginger is one of the best, natural cough remedies. In the Philippines, ginger tea (used to soothe sore throats) is made by steeping crushed ginger in hot water. Indonesian ginger candy is spicy and addicting. Gingerbread, pumpkin pie, ginger snaps are some yummy traditional treats we love here in the U.S.!
Ginger has a clean, slightly lemony aroma that is both spicy-sweet and hot. It's one ingredient I can't do without in my pantry!! I enjoy it in soups, stews, stir-fries, curries, chicken, fish, dumplings, tea, cookies, candies and desserts. How about you? Do you use ginger in your cooking? You might wish to share a recipe with Weekend Wokking: Ginger.
Wandering Chopsticks created this monthly blogging event to see how many different variations we can make using a single ingredient and for this month, the theme is ginger. Although the name says Weekend Wokking, use of a wok is not required for your recipe. I'm hosting this month's event. If you have a blog, you are welcome to join. Just email me (momgateway@gmail.com) by August 30, 2009 with the following information:
1. Your name or what name you would prefer to be called
2. The name of your blog
3. What part of the world you want identified as your residence
4. The title of the recipe
5. A permalink URL to the recipe
I will be posting a round-up by September 2, 2009 so please send in your entries by 11:59 p.m., Sunday, August 30, 2009. Let's get cooking!
3 comments:
This food blogging event is a new one to me. Sounds good. Ginger eh. Mmm not an ingredient I cook with that often, I will have to think.
I love ginger and this sounds like a fun event.
Sam
I can't believe I did not like ginger for a long time. Now it appears in my recipes quite often.
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