Speed technique: Freezing ginger

I like to keep a knob of ginger on hand, but I often don’t use it all up before it starts to shrivel up and lose its potency. Last week a friend gave me a whole bag of ginger and I knew there was no way I could use it in time, so I consulted the Japanese books on freezing and found that ginger can be frozen both sliced and grated. An ingenious way to store grated ginger is to form it into a long, skinny cylinder in plastic wrap, and freeze it. When you’re ready to use some, just break or cut off as much as you need and return the rest to the freezer! Convenient for adding quick flavor to a dish that you’re cooking for a speedy lunch or dinner.

I have a couple of special ginger graters, but a Microplane rasp-type grater also does an okay job. Ceramic ginger graters (like this and this ) and metal ones below do produce a nicer, silkier product without the fibrous strings, and collect the juice in a little reservoir in the grater. Worthwhile if you grate a lot of ginger, otherwise don’t sweat it.

You can also freeze pre-sliced (or julienned) ginger. Just peel and slice, wrap tightly in plastic wrap, and freeze in another container (freezer bag or plastic container like tiny Tupperware) to prevent freezer burn.

Tip on peeling ginger: use the edge of a spoon to quickly and easily scrape off the thin peel without wasting ginger.

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READ MORE:

• Freeze green onions in plastic drink bottles
• Magnets to track freezer inventory
• Cycle through freezer items quickly
• All freezing-related posts on Lunch in a Box
• Biggie’s list of top speed tips, tutorials and equipment reviews