Admirers of traditional medicine value ginger for its medicinal properties, and gourmets value it for its original taste, aroma and tonic effect. This plant can improve the taste of many dishes, and also helps strengthen the immune system, lose weight, and cure a cough or sore throat. To appreciate the original taste and fully obtain all the beneficial components of the root, it is recommended to use only fresh rhizomes of the spice. However, many people have learned to make ginger preparations for future use without losing the full value of the product.
How to properly prepare ginger
At home, the root of the plant is dried, pickled, preserved with sugar, and also made into a healing mixture with citrus fruits and honey.
Most methods allow you to preserve ginger without losing its freshness, beneficial vitamins and microelements. In order for homemade preparations to remain healthy and tasty, it is necessary to choose only high-quality and fresh roots.
They should be dense and elastic, and the peel should be smooth and golden in color. IMPORTANT: The plant should not have pests or soft damaged areas.
Candied root
This is both a dessert and a decoration for dishes (cupcakes, salads, pies). How to cook it:
- Wash the ginger root and remove the skin.
- Cut into thin slices, approximately 2 mm thick.
- Pour boiling water over it and leave for a couple of hours to get rid of the bitterness (but you can skip this point).
- Drain the water, rinse the ginger, place in a saucepan and pour in sugar syrup (the ratio of water and sugar is 1:1).
- Bring to a boil and simmer over low heat until the slices are soft and the syrup is thick.
- Remove the ginger and drain.
- Place parchment paper on a baking sheet.
- Roll each piece of ginger in sugar and place on a tray so that the slices do not touch each other.
- Place in the oven at 60-70 degrees and dry until done.
- Let the slices cool and place in an airtight container (can be stored at room temperature).
You can squeeze the juice from grated ginger, place it in the refrigerator and add it to tea, salads or sweet dishes.
Another way to dry at home: hang the sliced root on a thin thread next to the stove or fireplace. After a couple of days it will dry out and will need to be placed in a container or crushed.
Ginger for tea can be prepared for long-term storage in several ways: dried, frozen, ground into powder or squeezed juice from it. In any case, the resulting raw materials can be used for a long time to prepare tasty and healthy tea.
Winter is the best time to improve your diet and diversify your tea drinking with all kinds of twists. One of the most exotic fruits for this purpose is ginger root, which has a special spicy taste. The article discusses in detail how to turn fresh ginger into a fragrant preparation for the winter, with step-by-step instructions and photos.
Recipes
- The root of the plant can be dried. It needs to be washed; peeling the peel is not necessary. Pat the ginger dry with a paper towel to remove any moisture, then cut into thin slices. The thinner the plates are, the faster and better it will dry and be stored. Then cover a baking sheet with parchment paper and place the prepared plates in 1 layer. Dry in the oven at 50 degrees for 60 minutes, then turn the plates over to the other side and leave in the oven for the same amount of time. Ready-made dry records become hard and brittle. They can be ground in a blender or stored whole in a closed, dark container in a dry place.
- Pickled ginger. Peel fresh root (about 250 g) and cut into thin slices. Place in a glass container. Then pour a glass of salted boiling water, close the lid and let stand for 30–40 minutes. Prepare the marinade - dissolve 1 tbsp in 1 glass of hot water. a spoonful of sugar and add the same amount of vinegar. Next, drain the salt water and pour in the hot marinade. To give the ginger slices a beautiful pink tint, you can use beet juice, about 1 tablespoon. After cooling, place the container with ginger in the refrigerator. After 24 hours it is ready to eat. You can change the amount of vinegar and sugar to your taste.
- Healthy and tasty “Jar of Health”. You need to take 250 g of ginger root, 3 medium lemons and 400 g of liquid honey. Peel the ginger; you can leave the lemon peel. Wash everything and grind in a meat grinder or blender. Add honey and stir until smooth. Transfer the mixture into a sterile jar and eat a tablespoon daily. During colds and viral infections, the daily dose can be increased.
Reference! Some housewives replace lemon with cranberries. This combination perfectly complements each other in taste, and is also a strong antioxidant and record holder for vitamin content.
- Amazing ginger jam. Prepared to boost immunity in winter. You need to take 250 g of root, 3 small lime lemons, 4 glasses of water and sugar. Lemons can be replaced with oranges or grapefruits. You need to boil a syrup from water and sugar, add peeled and chopped ginger to it, as well as the juice of the selected citrus fruit. In the case of lemon, add its zest there too. The jam is prepared quickly; after about 20 minutes of boiling over low heat, it can be poured into small sterile jars and transferred to the cellar for storage.
In the oven
To dry ginger, you can use the oven:
- Wash the root and dry it on a towel.
- Cut into slices as thin as possible.
- Place the pieces on a baking sheet so that they do not touch each other, first place parchment paper.
- Set the oven to 50 degrees and wait until it warms up.
- Place a baking sheet with chopped ginger in it for 1 hour. Leave the oven door slightly open.
- Turn the circles over to the other side and wait the same amount.
- Check the workpiece. Dry pieces cannot be bent; they break immediately. And if a gray tint is visible on the break, then we can assume that the ginger is ready; if not, continue drying.
- Remove ginger from oven and cool to room temperature.
- Place the finished raw materials in an airtight container and place in a dark, dry room.
How to properly store harvested ginger
After harvesting ginger for future use, it is necessary to ensure optimal storage conditions.
Pickled preparations and mixtures of raw products must be stored in the refrigerator, which allows them to remain suitable for consumption for a month. Dried root - in a cool, dry place. Preserves in the form of jam are best stored in a cellar or basement, where the temperature does not rise above 15 °C. In these places, the blanks can be stored for up to a year.
What are the benefits of ginger root?
The plant contains B vitamins, vitamins E and K, and amino acids. It is a storehouse of potassium, magnesium, and phosphorus. Iron, copper, selenium, sodium, zinc are present in it in smaller quantities, but there are also a lot of them. The root is rich in resins, polysaccharides, oil and flavonoids.
100 g of root contains: 1.8 g of protein, 18 g of carbohydrates, 0.75 g of fat and 2 g of fiber. The calorie content of the same amount of product is 80 kcal.
In ancient civilizations, the plant was used to treat the respiratory and digestive systems, restore strength after illness, exhaustion and wounds.
Its secrets are still the subject of study in cooking, cosmetology, traditional and alternative medicine. The root is used to treat many diseases in adults and children over 3 years of age. It is undesirable for people with peptic ulcers, gastritis, cardiovascular problems and allergies to the product itself.
The root in traditional therapy and folk healing is used for:
- digestive disorders associated with insufficient absorption of gastric juice and digestive enzymes;
- metabolic disorders of various body systems;
- diseases of the respiratory system: tonsillitis, pharyngitis, bronchitis, pneumonia;
- vitamin deficiency;
- immunodeficiency;
- tumor processes;
- ARVI, etc.
The spice has a strong antibacterial effect. Used as a pain reliever for migraines and PMS in women, relieves fatigue, fights free radicals and maintains cell youth.
The product burns fat, reduces appetite, speeds up the digestion process, and replenishes the lack of vitamins and minerals. Its action is based on increasing the intensity of blood flow, lowering cholesterol, normalizing blood sugar levels and removing toxins.
Useful tips
To preserve ginger for future use, in addition to the above methods, you can freeze it in the freezer.
To do this, the rhizome must be cleaned, grated (or cut into cubes), placed in small portions on a paper-lined tray and put into the chamber. Then pour the frozen ginger into bags for frozen vegetables. In this form, ginger can be kept in the freezer for up to six months. Having chosen a high-quality root for harvesting, you don’t have to worry about its safety for future use. Due to the content of vitamin C and other natural preservatives, it can not spoil for a long time, and the components of the plant are guaranteed not to allow various microorganisms to infect the workpiece.
ATTENTION!
The information on the site is for informational purposes only and does not call for action. Remember, self-medication can harm your health. Before using medicinal herbs, consult your doctor.
Freezing
Unpeeled ginger, previously tightly packed, can be placed entirely in the freezer. At the same time, it will not lose its beneficial properties. When brewing tea, take it out, cut off a small piece and use immediately.
You can also freeze grated ginger. For this:
- Grate the washed, peeled root on a fine grater or grind in a blender to a paste.
- Transfer the resulting mass into a sealed bag and smooth it out. The surface should resemble thin tiles.
- Place chopped ginger in the freezer.
- Before cooking, take out the tile, break off a small piece, which you can use immediately.
How to choose the right product?
The way to preserve the properties of the root is to choose a fresh plant. The product should have a thick, elastic, medium-sized base, free of damage, with dry, thin beige-brown skin and white flesh. Some varieties have greenish flesh and bluish veins - these are the characteristics of the species.
The length of the rhizome should be at least 5-7 cm: the longer the root, the more useful substances and essential oils it contains.
The stale plant has a wrinkled skin and bright yellow contents. It is not worth buying: firstly, due to the loss of most useful substances, and secondly, it is unsuitable for storage and drying.
The softness of the root is evidence of its old age and storage in inappropriate conditions. Plus, fresh ginger is more flavorful.
The presence of dark spots on the outside of the roots means that the storage rules were not followed.
Good quality product increases the shelf life of ginger.
Wrong ways
If the conditions, technologies and shelf life of each type of ginger are violated, not only its appearance is lost, but also all the beneficial properties and microelements disappear.
So, for example, if ginger is kept in the refrigerator for about a month or more, it becomes soft and rotten, using such a product for food is strictly prohibited. The same thing happens with any other type of ginger. Therefore, always comply with the conditions and carefully look at the deadlines for the sale of this product .
The consequences of using old, rotten ginger for food can be the saddest, do not risk your life, it is better to dispose of this product. Remember to check the freshness of ginger before using it, even if it is not yet expired.
Thus, we see that for each specific type of this spice certain conditions and storage periods are required , under which all the beneficial properties are preserved as much as possible. It is necessary to strictly follow the rules and recommendations for storing all types of this unique root in order to achieve maximum success and eat only high-quality products.
Storage methods
Gourmets prefer only fresh ginger. It is much tastier and more aromatic. But depending on the circumstances or one’s own preferences, the roots are stored dried, pickled, or frozen.
Keeping it fresh
Fresh ginger will keep in the refrigerator for about a week. It is better to store it in vacuum packaging or in a plastic bag with a ziplock, which will extend the shelf life.
But it is much safer to use tightly sealed paper bags instead of plastic. They are placed in a box for storing vegetables and fruits. There is no excessively low temperature.
You can store ginger root in paper napkins, wrap it in several layers of such paper and put it in the refrigerator.
Deep freeze
Freezing is the safest way to preserve tubers. This way it will preserve nutritional value and almost not lose vitamins and microelements.
It is better to freeze ginger in portions so that you can use the product gradually.
The root crop is peeled and visible damage is trimmed. The product is cut into thin slices and laid out on a board so that the slices do not touch each other. The board is placed in the freezer. Once frozen, the plates can be placed in a bag and returned to the freezer.
You can freeze the spice in crushed form: grate it on a fine or coarse grater, divide it into small portions, and place it in ice cube trays.
When a portion is frozen, prepare the next batch. It is convenient to defrost such portions and consume them little by little.
Ground and dried ginger
This method will help preserve even substandard ginger, the preparation of which is used as a seasoning.
The roots are washed well, peeled, and cut into thin, almost transparent plates - “chips.” The drying speed depends on this.
The raw materials are laid out on a baking sheet covered with parchment paper and placed in the oven for an hour, preheated to a temperature of 160°C. Dry ginger root is inelastic and breaks when pressed.
The dried "chips" can be stored in a glass jar with a lid in a cool, dark, dry place. But for convenience, ginger root is immediately crushed into powder. Ginger for tea (powder) and plates retain their properties for up to 4 months.
Pickling ginger
Lovers of the spice preserve it in a traditional marinade with the addition of vinegar (wine, apple).
Required ingredients:
- peeled ginger - 200 g;
- salt - 1 tsp;
- vinegar - 250 ml;
- brown sugar - 4 tbsp. l.;
- filtered water - 8 tbsp. l.
Cooking method:
- Peel the fresh root.
- Cut into thin (1-2 mm) plates of equal thickness (preferably with a shredder).
- Mix the slices with ground salt and leave for half an hour.
- Add sugar and stir until everything is homogenized.
- Pour water and vinegar over ginger.
The product is ready in a day. The shelf life of the product is 30-40 days. Keep pickled ginger in the refrigerator.
Preparing candied fruits or tinctures
One way to store ginger for future use is to make candied ginger.
Required ingredients:
- fresh ginger - 200 g;
- brown sugar - 3 tbsp. l.
For the syrup:
- sugar - 6 tbsp. l.;
- water - 3 tbsp. l.
Cooking method:
- Peel the ginger and cut into thin slices.
- Place in a saucepan, add water.
- Bring over medium heat until softened (about 30 minutes).
- Drain the water (you can drink it like tea).
- Place the boiled root in a saucepan, add sugar and water.
- Cook, stirring, until the syrup has evaporated almost completely.
- Sprinkle the slices on both sides with brown sugar and place on a baking sheet to dry.
Once dry, place the records in a box with a lid. Candied ginger can be stored for up to 3 months.
The root plates are filled with alcohol, vodka or wine (sherry). Over time, the liquid absorbs the aroma of the spice. Dishes with the addition of both root and tincture have a delicate and unusual taste.
Lemon or honey (to taste) is added to the tinctures and taken for weight loss, increased tone and potency.
Another recipe suggests a mixture of 200 g ginger, 1 tbsp. l. honey and 2 tsp. lemon juice. The spice is added to tea instead of sugar or consumed 1 tsp. in a day. Store the composition for more than 2 months in a glass container in the refrigerator.
Ginger drinks are stored briefly and only under tightly closed lids. At room temperature - 3 hours, in the refrigerator - up to 5.
Storage in soil
Ginger can be stored in the ground for the winter. It is unusual for city apartments, but helps keep the ginger fresh. A flower pot is used for these purposes.
Dry soil is poured into it and the root is placed in it. The pot can be stored in the basement or in a dark, cool place for up to 6 months.
