How to always have fresh ginger on hand and easy to use

When I was first starting to cook, I would often skip over recipes I saw that called for fresh ginger.  It felt like something I never had on hand and something I didn’t want to commit to a whole chunk of because I could never use it all.  Yes, I finally realized I could freeze ginger for later but just throwing the whole root in a freezer bag meant I had to thaw the whole root or saw off the chunk I needed which didn’t work well.

The time I put a little effort in up front to peel and cut the ginger into useable chunks was a real game changer.  And now I LOVE recipes that call for fresh ginger because I know I can just run to the freeze and grab the exact amount I need whenever I need it.

Here is what you’ll need:

• Big hunk of ginger
• Knife
• Cutting board
• Peeler
• Plastic freezer bag

Here is what you do:

1. Peel the ginger completely
2. Cut the ginger into “coins” (1-2 Tablespoon sized pieces)
3. Label plastic bag with date
4. Put sliced ginger in bag
5. Put bag in freezer where it can be flat with ginger pieces as separated as possible
6. When frozen, move bag to more convenient spot in freezer
7. Open the bag and grab the amount you need whenever a recipe calls for fresh ginger (frozen ginger is really easy to grate or mince)
8. Seal bag and place it back in the freezer

So if you’re skipping over recipes with fresh ginger like I was (or have an unpeeled ginger root in your freezer right now) give this a whirl and see if it works for you!

Happy cooking!

Mel