Grating ginger with a Micro planer works best
Fresh ginger is a powerful spice used in many Indian, Caribbean and Asian dishes. The tan knobby roots are easily found in today’s supermarkets on the fresh produce aisle. Due to its powerful taste, most recipes will require you to grate the ginger before adding it to a dish or marinade. Grating ginger can be difficult because of the dense fibers. The best instrument to use for grating ginger is a Micro planer or rasp. A standard kitchen grater can be used on the smallest grate available, but watch out and don’t scrape your fingers. The small Micro planer can also be used to grate other fresh spices such as garlic, cinnamon bark and nutmeg.
Instructions
1. Purchase fresh ginger root in small quantities because it does not take much to enhance a dish. Once home, wrap securely in plastic wrap and store in the freezer. Freezing the root will make it much easier to grate.
2. When you are ready to cook with the ginger, remove it from the freezer and plastic wrap.
3. While the ginger is still frozen, peel the tough outer skin from the ginger using a paring knife and discard.
4. Rub the ginger in an up and down motion on your grater. There will be fibers which do not grate down. Just remove them and discard when you have grated the amount you need for your recipe.
5. Wrap any remaining ginger in the plastic wrap and return it to the freezer where it will keep for up to two months.
Tags: Micro planer, plastic wrap