Ginger is an indispensable aromatic seasoning in many dishes, but not everyone knows how to use it properly. Used correctly, it can enhance the flavor and appearance of a dish; used incorrectly, it can have the opposite effect. How to use ginger: It makes dishes more delicious.
1. Shredded ginger as an ingredient
Common cooking ginger includes new ginger, yellow ginger, old ginger, and sprouting ginger. By color, it can also be divided into red-claw ginger and yellow-claw ginger. Ginger has a strong pungent aroma and can serve as both a seasoning and an ingredient in dishes. New ginger has thin skin, tender flesh, and a mild flavor. Yellow ginger is fragrant and spicy, with its aroma and texture changing from mild to strong and from soft to firm, making it the best quality of ginger. Old ginger, commonly known as "ginger mother" or ginger seed, has thick skin and firm flesh with a spicy flavor, but its aroma is not as strong as yellow ginger. Sprouting ginger, with attached sprouts, can be used as a side dish or pickled and has a delicious flavor.
When used as an ingredient, ginger is generally cut into shreds. For example, "Shredded Ginger with Pork" is made by stir-frying shreds of new ginger, green chili, and red chili with lean pork shreds, creating a fragrant, spicy, and unique dish. "Three-Str Fish Rolls" involves slicing mandarin fish into large pieces, rolling them into cylinders with bamboo shoot shreds, ham shreds, and chicken breast shreds, and then serving them with pickled ginger shreds (made from sprouting ginger), scallion shreds, and red chili shreds, braised with soy sauce, sugar, and vinegar. The dish has a sweet and sour taste, is tender on the outside, and fresh on the inside. Shredded new or yellow ginger can also be used as an ingredient in cold dishes, not only to enhance freshness but also for its antibacterial and disinfectant properties. For example, the traditional Huaiyang cold dish "Mixed Tofu Shreds" involves cutting each large piece of tofu into about 20 slices, then finely shredding them thinner than a matchstick. The shreds are blanched in boiling water three times, squeezed dry, placed on a plate, and topped with ginger shreds and a seasoned sauce. The tofu shreds are soft and light, while the ginger shreds are fresh, tender, and spicy.
2. Ginger chunks (slices) for removing fishy and gamey odors
When processed into chunks or slices, ginger is mostly used in slow-cooked dishes such as stewing, braising, simmering, roasting, boiling, and pan-frying, where it helps remove the fishy and gamey odors from seafood, poultry, and meat. In slow-cooked dishes, old ginger is mainly used for its flavor, and it is discarded after the dish is cooked. Therefore, the ginger needs to be cut into chunks or slices and crushed with the flat side of a knife to allow its flavor to seep out into the dish. For example, in "Clear Stewed Chicken," which can be called "Clear Stewed Hen and Chick" with eggs, or "Coral Stewed Chicken" with rehydrated sea cucumber, or "Wind Blowing Peony" with silver ear balls, or "Dragon Playing with Phoenix" with pork intestines, or "Hundred Birds Paying Homage to the Phoenix" with small chickens stuffed with fish and shrimp, ginger slices are essential for seasoning. Without them, the dish would lack the characteristics of tender and fragrant chicken, delicate ingredients, and a clear, mellow broth.
In addition to seasoning during cooking, ginger is also used before heating to marinate ingredients. In dishes like "Oil-Drizzled Chicken," "Fork-Roasted Fish," and "Fried Pork Chops," the ginger and main ingredients are not heated together. However, since these ingredients have strong odors, they must be marinated with ginger slices for a considerable time before cooking to eliminate the unpleasant smell. Adding an appropriate amount of cooking wine and scallions during marination enhances the effect.
3. Minced ginger to add fragrance and freshness
In ancient times, ginger was also called "jiang," meaning it "defends against all evils." Ginger is warm in nature and dispels cold. People often eat it with minced ginger and vinegar when consuming "cold-natured" dishes. Vinegar removes fishiness and warms the stomach, and when paired with minced ginger, they complement each other, preventing diarrhea, killing bacteria, and aiding digestion. Dishes like "Steamed White Fish," "芙蓉鲫鱼 (Fu Rong Yu Yu)," "Steamed Crab," "Drunken Shrimp," and "Sichuan-style Bamboo Shoots" all require vinegar, minced ginger, and sometimes pepper powder and cilantro leaves.
Minced ginger can also be cooked and eaten with the main ingredients. For example, in "Clear Stewed Lion's Head," the pork is finely chopped and pounded with a cleaver, then mixed with minced ginger and other seasonings to form the "lion's head," which is then stewed. More often, minced ginger is stir-fried in oil before being cooked with the main ingredient, allowing the spicy fragrance of the ginger to blend with the fresh flavor of the main ingredient, creating a tempting dish. In dishes like "Stir-fried Crab Roe" and "Sweet and Sour Pork," the minced ginger must first be stir-fried in oil until fragrant before the other ingredients are added. Ginger chunks/slices are used in slow-cooked dishes to remove odors, while minced ginger is more commonly used in fried, stir-fried, quick-fried, and pan-seared dishes to add fragrance and freshness.
4. Ginger juice for excellent color and flavor
Seafood, poultry offal, and eggs have strong fishy and gamey odors, making ginger an essential seasoning during cooking. Some dishes can be cooked with ginger shreds as an ingredient, slow-cooked dishes (known as "main courses" in culinary terms) use ginger chunks/slices to remove odors, and general stir-fries and small dishes use minced ginger to enhance freshness. However, some dishes cannot be cooked with ginger directly but still need to be deodorized and flavored, making ginger juice a suitable choice. This is used in dishes like fish balls, shrimp balls, meat balls, and dishes made by pounding various animal ingredients into a paste, where ginger juice is used to remove the fishy and gamey flavors.
To make ginger juice, ginger chunks are crushed, soaked in water for a period of time (often with scallions and an appropriate amount of cooking wine), and the resulting liquid is the ginger juice needed. Ginger has many uses in cooking and requires skill, but it is not necessary for every dish. For example, single vegetable dishes have their own natural aromas, and adding minced ginger would "steal the show" and overpower the original flavor.