Japanese Pickled Ginger

This is my third try at making pickled ginger that turned pinkish on its own. Those previous ones that I made turned pinkish with lemon juices added but this recent one that I made turned pinkish naturally without having to add lemon juice to it.  I found this recipe from Nami's Just One Cookbook and when I read through her Japanese pickled ginger recipe , I knew I had to make it.  She gave tips on how to make the young ginger turned natural pink - Just include the pink part of the young ginger ! The pink pigment  makes the pickled ginger turned natural pink ! So simple ! 

And true enough, the moment I poured the warm boiled rice vinegar syrup over the ginger slices, they turned pinkish.   I was happy to see such a lovely pink...worth all the hardwork. Thank you Nami for sharing the wonderful tip - knowing this important factor, I will not scrape off the pink skin anymore :)

Both WB and myself love pickled ginger, the homemade one of course :) We serve them with hard boiled eggs, our all time favorite appetizer and I do add them to my salad sometimes .  

I choose those with pink skin...the pink pigment makes the

pickled ginger naturally pink

I used a thin sharp paring knife to slice the young ginger as thin as I can 

the ginger slices turned pinkish

 instantly the moment the warm 

rice vinegar syrup was poured over it

once it cooled down, store them in jar

and keep in the fridge .

these pickled ginger can keep for a year in the fridge

as long as it is not contaminated

Japanese Pickled Ginger - adapted from Namiko JustOneCookbook

600 gm baby ginger -  wash , pat dry and sliced thinly
1/2 tbsp coarse salt

Sweet Vinegar ( Amazu )

2 cups rice vinegar
1.5 cups sugar

a tsp of salt

A sterilized jar with a lid

Method:

Using a spoon scrape off  brown spots from ginger, sprinkle salt and set aside for 5 minutes. Then add the ginger into a boiling water and cook for 1-3 mins. If you want to keep it spicy, take it out after 1 minute. Otherwise 2-3 minutes is good.

Pour the water into a sieve and let the ginger slices drain completely by spreading them out in a single layer. With your clean hands, squeeze the water out and put them in a sterilized jar or Mason jar or a sterilized bowl.

In a small pot, add rice vinegar, sugar and salt and bring it to a boil till strong vinegar smell has evaporated.  When it's slightly cool, pour the liquid into the jar with sliced ginger.  It will turned pink . The pickled ginger can be stored in air tight container in the refrigerator for up to a year.

Enjoy !

Japanese Pickled Ginger - (1)

I have been wanting to try making my own pickled ginger for quite some time but kept postponing it. I thought it was hard work but surprisingly after having done it…it was not that laborous as I thought :)) 2 jars of nicely pickled ginger for sushi or as a condiment for boiled eggs / century eggs and salad !!! And finally now I can tell my Piggies…Momsie did it!!! Yayyyay…. and they will get to eat with the black century eggs when they are back and I can’t wait to eat it myself :P

This beautifully homemade pickled ginger is a thumbs up alright. The sweetness and the rice vinegar taste was just perfect , so if you want to try making your own pickled ginger, do follow this recipe to the dot. Foolproof and deliciously good. Though the color is not dark pink like those served in the Japanese restaurant , it has a tinge of pinkness and the trick is the ginger must be the very young ones. I will try again making it after the 2 jars finishes , this time I will try getting the young ones :))). some recipes say to put a drop of red coloring but I avoided it. I prefer the natural color.... I am a naturalist like stuff in their natural form...ooops :)))

Clean and skin the ginger, then slice it as thin as possible,

mine are a bit thick though :P

Rub 2 tsp of salt on the slices of ginger and

leave it rest for 1 hour....wipe dry with paper towels

Boiled the rice vinegar and sugar till the sugar dissolved,

put in the ginger slices while it is still boiling.

Turn off the fire and let the vinegar sugar mixture infused

into the ginger...you can see the ginger turned slightly pink

at this stage...and when it has cooled down,

put into sterilized jars and keep in the fridge.

this can be served as an appetizer

or as a condiment for sushi and salad

Mmmmmm....mouthwatering pickled ginger!

You can sprinkle some toasted white sesame on it for

better flavor

Japanese Pickled Ginger

Ingredients:

2 lbs of fresh young ginger (shin shoga)

3 cups of japanese rice vinegar

2 cups sugar

2 tsps of salt

Preparation:

1. Wash the young ginger and rub off skin.

2. Slice the ginger thinly and salt them. Leave salted ginger slices in a bowl for one hour.

3. Dry the ginger slices with paper towels .

4. Mix rice vinegar and sugar in a pan and bring to a boil.

5. Add the ginger slices to the mixture of vinegar and sugar . Off the fire and let the vinegar and sugar infused into the ginger slices.

6. Cool them. Pickled ginger changes its color to light pink. Put them in sterilized jars/bottles. Cover the jars/containers and store in the fridge.

(*If you are using old ginger, it might not turn pink naturally.) *Makes about 2 jars **

Enjoy!