
GINGER JUBILEE. Used quietly for years to add zip to everything from
stir-fries to sushi, ginger also happens to be a key ingredient for the
noodles and dumplings traditionally eaten for the Lunar New Year, which
begins January 23. (AP Photo/Matthew Mead)
From The Asian Reporter, V22, #02 (January 16, 2012), page 25.
Chefs root for ginger’s versatile properties
By Michelle Locke
For The Associated Press
Fresh, dried, candied, or pickled, the rhizome of the plant Zingiber
officinale — ginger root to you and me — is a hot commodity at the
moment.
Used quietly for years to add zip to everything from stir-fries and sushi
to breads and cookies, ginger also happens to be a key ingredient for the
noodles and dumplings traditionally eaten for the Lunar New Year, which
begins January 23.
But at the moment, the knobby brown root is enjoying a bit of a zeitgeist
that goes far beyond that celebration, showing up in desserts, upscale
sodas, marinades for pricy meats, and fancy cocktails as the food world
embraces the zingy root in anything but a gingerly fashion.
At the Lukshon restaurant in Los Angeles, chef-owner Sang Yoon laughingly
describes himself as the guy who’ll "eat my own weight in the pickled
ginger" when sitting down to sushi. "I really enjoy that light burn on the
palate. It almost acts as a palate cleanser. It’s especially really pleasing
for richer, oilier dishes like mackerel."
So at his restaurant, he has taken ginger well beyond the stir-fry,
making a syrup from ginger and galangal (a more savory relative of ginger)
for cocktails, juicing ginger for sauces and vinaigrettes, and hot pickling
ginger for raw fish dishes.
Chef and Asian food authority Bruce Cost is such a fan he wrote the 1984
cookbook, Ginger East to West, which traced the history of ginger. He
created Bruce Cost Ginger Ale for his restaurants and now sells it in
specialty and food service retailers across the country. Unfiltered, it’s
brewed in Brooklyn and made from fresh, whole ginger and cane sugar.
"It’s probably the premier herb on the planet," he says, noting that
ginger is an ancient food that has been embraced by diverse cultures.
And his brew is hardly alone. Grocer’s shelves are suddenly crowded with
fancy ginger ales sporting big, bold flavor, from Reed’s Extra Ginger Brew
to Maine Root Ginger Brew.
Diana Kuan, a New York-based writer and cooking instructor who blogs
about food at appetiteforchina.com, likes ginger in all its incarnations,
including, of course, its traditional role along with garlic and scallions
as the basis for stir-fry and other dishes.
Ginger also shows up in marinades to help tenderize meat and is a natural
partner to crab, steamed fish, or in rich dishes, such as pork belly or
dumplings. "It has a really clean and sharp flavor," says Kuan.
January 23 ushers in the Year of the Dragon, which is the only mythical
creature in the 12 animals that make up the lunar zodiac and packs a bit
more drama than the mild-mannered Rabbit that ruled 2011.
Celebrations for the Chinese New Year begin with a big family feast on
New Year’s Eve and go on for 14 days ending with the Spring Lantern
Festival.
Somewhere in there, you may need a cocktail, and this ginger lemon drop
spritzer may fit the bill. Use the best ginger beer (fancy ginger ale) you
can find. Fresh ginger, usually found with the grocer’s Asian produce,
should be firm and brown.
* * *
Ginger Lemon Drop Spritzer
Start to finish: 5 minutes
Servings: 1
Ice
12-ounce bottle ginger beer
2 ounces Domaine de Canton (ginger liqueur)
1 ounce vodka
1 ounce lemon juice
1 teaspoon minced fresh ginger
Fill a highball glass with ice and pour in enough ginger beer to fill the
glass two-thirds full.
In a cocktail shaker filled with ice, combine the ginger liqueur, vodka,
lemon juice, and fresh ginger. Shake well, then strain into the glass.
Recipe by Alison Ladman.
* * *
To read our entire issue in celebration of the Year of the
Dragon, visit
<www.asianreporter.com/completepaper.htm>.
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