Intriquing Ingredient - Pickled Ginger

Every so often I come across an unusual ingredient. Well, one that’s unusual to me! That ingredient will pique my interest and start me on a quest to find ways to use it. Eventually, many of these discoveries will evolve into staples in our kitchen, like pesto or anchovy paste have done.

I stumbled across these wafer thin pink slices of something perched on top of my Asian salad at the Silver City Brewery in Silverdale. At first, I was taken aback by the floral overtones of the scent and taste. I wasn’t sure if I liked it or not. After finding out that it was pickled ginger, it started to grow on me and soon I was scouring the markets trying to find it.

If I was a sushi fan, pickled ginger might have been familiar to me as gari or sushi ginger. It is often served and eaten after sushi to cleanse the palate.

Pickled ginger is more mellow in flavor than in its raw state. I can’t imagine popping a slice of raw ginger in my mouth but once it’s pickled, it takes on a different taste and texture.

At Metropolitan Market on Proctor in Tacoma, I found a large jar of it for $6.99. There are some recipes on the internet for pickling ginger yourself and I might give that a try one of these days. Some of the store bought pickled ginger contains preservatives and artificial color. When it’s homemade, beet juice can be added to give the ginger its signature light pink color to avoid any artificial color.

Here are two easy recipes I’ve developed that incorporate pickled ginger:

Ginger Chicken Tossed Salad

Note: The proportion of these ingredients can and should be adjusted to suit your tastes. I change it up each time I make it.

• 6 wonton wrappers, cut into ¼-inch strips
• 3 tablespoon vegetable oil, or enough to cover bottom of small frying pan
• 6 cup romaine lettuce, shredded
• 1 cup snow peas, cut diagonally into thirds
• ¼ cup green onions, green tops only cut into 1 inch strips
• 1- 11 oz. can of mandarin oranges, drained completely
• 1 to 2 large slices of pickled ginger, cut into thin strips
• 2 tablespoon unsalted almonds, thinly sliced
• ¼ cup Asian style salad dressing (my favorite: Wish-Bone Light Asian Sesame & Ginger Vinaigrette)
• 2 to 4 boneless skinless grilled chicken breast halves, sliced (see recipe below)
• Toasted sesame seeds for garnish

1. In a small frying pan, heat vegetable oil over medium high heat. Shallow fry the wonton strips in small batches until light brown, turning once to brown both side, about 10 to 20 seconds a side. Drain on paper towels.  Set aside.
2. Combine lettuce, snow peas, green onion, mandarin oranges, pickled ginger and sliced almonds in a large salad bowl. Toss with salad dressing, adding more to taste but take care not to overdress. The Asian dressing can overpower the other flavors very easily. 
3. Top with chicken and fried wontons. Sprinkle with sesame seeds.
4. Serve immediately. Serves 4.

Grilled Chicken with Pickled Ginger Marinade

• ½ cup lemon lime soda

• ¼ cup soy sauce

• ¼ cup olive oil

• 2 large cloves garlic, minced

• 2 teaspoon pickled ginger, minced

• 1 teaspoon ground horseradish

• 4 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves

1. Place first six ingredients in gallon size zip lock bag and carefully “squish” bag to combine. 
2. Add chicken to bag and seal. Turn to coat thoroughly. Marinate in refrigerator for 4 to 8 hours, turning bag over frequently. 
3. Remove chicken from marinade and grill on hot, lightly oiled BBQ until no longer pink inside, about 6 to 8 minutes per side. Discard marinade.

This is also a great marinade for pork or beef.