Spicy, tart, reminiscent of pepper and lemon, it refreshes and awakens the palate. Perhaps the most useful of the “hot” spices, it goes well with almost any product and has an indispensable property for winter – to fill us with inner warmth.
Ginger (Zingiber officinalis) is one of the oldest spices, native to Southeast Asia and Western India. It grows well in a humid tropical climate, but you can grow it in our latitudes – in a greenhouse or even at home in a flower pot. Such indoor ginger was very popular with sailors back in the 1th century – they took pots with a plant on long journeys: ginger root protected against scurvy and helped to cope with seasickness. Ancient healers revered ginger for its miraculous power: the root contains many amino acids necessary for our body, rich in vitamins C, B2, BXNUMX and A, magnesium, phosphorus and calcium salts. It has a beneficial effect on digestion, lowers blood cholesterol levels, strengthens memory, restores strength, removes toxins, has antiseptic and anti-inflammatory properties, helps with colds and toothache. In addition, it slows down the aging process and increases sex drive, and is also effective in preventing cancer. Regular use of small amounts of ginger in food stimulates digestion by warming the stomach and blood. Ginger is very useful for people engaged in intellectual work, journalists, artists: by thinning the blood, it contributes to a better supply of oxygen to the brain. So if you’re brainstorming, a quarter teaspoon of ginger powder will do the trick. The flesh of ginger can be grated along the grain with a thin, flat-blade grater, as the Japanese do, or simply with a cheese grater, and then added to a slow-cooked dish, jam, minced meat, or seasoning. By running ginger through a juicer, you can add its juice to sauces, vinegars and drinks. Cut into thin strips, it can be mixed with salad or stewed vegetables, or added to syrup, in which fruit will be baked or confectionery is poured over. Ginger is marinated in sweetened rice vinegar and soaked in salt water to make the excellent gari seasoning familiar to us from Japanese cuisine.
Ice ginger cubes
You can freeze ginger juice: this will allow you to stock up and save time during the cooking process. Place the juice in an ice cube mold in the freezer. When needed, you just need to defrost the cubes and then add the thawed juice to your cold cut dressing. If you are preparing hot meals or serving cold drinks – water, tea, fruit juice, smoothies – roll the dice directly without defrosting.
Cucumber and wakame seaweed salad with ginger
For 4 persons. Cooking time: 15 minutes.
- 2 small cucumbers
- 2 tbsp. l. dried wakame seaweed
- 80 g fresh ginger
- 1 st. l. sesame seeds
- 1 pod of hot red pepper
- 1 tsp. salt
- 1 tsp. sesame oil
For the filling:
- 5 tbsp. l. rice vinegar
- 1 Art. l. soy sauce
- 1 tsp. granulated sugar
Pour the seaweed with cold water, leave in a bowl for 10 minutes. Cucumbers cut into thin slices, place in a colander, salt, mix lightly and leave for 5 minutes. In a bowl, mix vinegar and soy sauce, dissolve sugar. Remove the seeds from the pepper pod and cut it diagonally with scissors into thin rings. Peel the ginger, cut it into thin plates, and them in turn into narrow strips. Lightly wring out the moisture from the cucumbers and algae, transfer them to a salad bowl. Add dressing, stir 15 seconds, then drain off excess liquid. Divide the salad among plates, top with ginger and pepper rings, drizzle with sesame oil, sprinkle with sesame seeds and serve immediately. This refreshing salad is an excellent appetizer or side dish for seafood.