STEM GINGER

One of the delights of living in Shanghai is seeing all the fruits and vegetables piled high when they are in season. I love seeing the year unfold through the stalls at the market. One of the things I love is when the new ginger comes into season. I love the smell and the pinky hue of the still very young stem. Of course ginger is a very popular item here in China as it is used in almost every dish and you see people buying huge bags of it. I, on the other hand, buy smaller amounts but I still can find myself with too much.

So apart from cooking with it, Chinese Style, I was wondering what to do with it when a friend was telling me he wasn't happy with his gingerbread, he wanted a bit more of a ginger flavour. I told him I like to put some the syprup from the stem ginger jar into my baked ginger goodies. Now there was where the problem came. No stem ginger in Shanghai. No problem.  I didn't think it could be too difficult to make and it would be a great way to use the abundance of ginger around. A quick google showed many recipes and after reading through them realised they were more or less all the same. A quick play around and I found what I felt was the easiest way, all take a bit of time but little effort.

RECIPE

Equal amounts of peeled chopped fresh ginger and sugar.

Slice ginger into slices about 3cm thick.

Put ginger into a pan which it just fits into and cover with water.

Bring to a boil.

 Turn to simmer and leave until a knife easily pierces the ginger.

Top up water if necessary.

When soft add the sugar and simmer until sugar is dissolved and you have a sticky syrup. 

Put into sterilised jars and seal.

Told you it was easy.

Here are my ginger nut biscuits with added chopped stem ginger to give them that little kick of heat.

Trouble is I can't stop eating them. But I guess that's what they're for! Enjoy