Ginger is a warm, peppery rhizome with a faint citrus edge, used fresh in Cantonese soups, Sichuan fish, chicken congee and a soy dressing for tofu and wakame. Peel it with the edge of a teaspoon. Slice it into coins for simmering and long cooking, or grate it for sauces where the flavour should spread evenly.
Not a common allergen. It is not on the UK list of 14 foods that must be declared on labels.
How to serve Ginger to babies
No published guidance covers preparing Ginger by age yet. See the NHS weaning guide for textures in general.
Per 100 g from CoFID (13-890). Not medical advice.
TCM benefits of Ginger
生薑 · shēng jiāng
How ginger is seen in traditional Chinese food therapy. Traditional context, not medical advice.
Fresh ginger is classed as pungent and warm, and the Pharmacopoeia associates it with the Lung, Spleen and Stomach.
Li Shizhen's Bencao Gangmu has a neat rule for the root: used raw it disperses, cooked it settles the middle, so a quick slice in a stir-fry and a long stew do different jobs.
Sliced ginger simmered with brown sugar is a long-standing household drink for the first chilly days of the year.
Because it is warming, reference texts advise people with yin deficiency and internal heat to avoid it, and ginger is traditionally eaten sparingly by anyone who runs hot or dry.
Sources: Chinese Pharmacopoeia 2020, 生姜 monograph; 本草綱目 (Compendium of Materia Medica), 生薑 entry
Cooking with Ginger
Pairs well with
The ingredients that most often share a recipe with ginger on Nourishible.
Fresh ginger is mostly skin and fibre to get past, and a spoon makes the first job easy.
1Choose: Look for smooth, taut, pale skin and a hand that feels heavy and snaps cleanly.
2Store: Wrap in kitchen paper and keep in the fridge drawer, or freeze it whole and grate it straight from frozen.
3Prep: Scrape off the thin brown skin with the edge of a teaspoon, which takes almost nothing but skin and gets into the knobbly corners a peeler misses.
4Prep: Cut thin coins, stack and slice them into matchsticks, then cut across for a fine dice.
5Cook: Add ginger early with the onion for a mellow warmth, or near the end if you want its bite.
Video: “How to Peel Ginger | Jamie’s 1 Minute Tips” by Jamie Oliver on YouTube.
