Ginger info & recipes
Ginger, botanical name Zingiber officinale, belongs to the same family as turmeric and cardamom and is native to Southeast Asia. It has been used in Asian cooking and medications for thousands of years, and was highly valued by spice traders. Ginger is available fresh, dried, pickled, preserved, crystallised and ground. Ginger aids digestion, stimulates appetite, helps to relieve nausea, promotes good circulation, is anti-inflammatory, and in traditional Chinese and Indian Ayurvedic medicines ginger is used to soothe upset stomachs, relieve diarrhoea and treat the symptoms of the common cold.
RECIPES
ORGANIC CHICKEN CONGEE WITH FRESH GINGER
This recipe is based on similar ones by Stephanie Alexander and Meera Freeman.
• 1.5 kg organic chicken
• 2 litres organic chicken stock or water
• 2 tsp finely grated fresh ginger
• 2 tbsp organic coconut oil
• 1 cup organic short or medium grain brown rice, rinsed
• 1 red chilli, seeded and finely sliced
• 3 shallots, finely sliced on the diagonal
Dipping sauce:
• 1 clove garlic
• 1 small red chilli, seeded
• 2 tsp organic brown rice syrup
• 2 tbsp brown rice vinegar
• 2 tbsp organic tamari
• 2 tbsp water
• juice of ½ organic lime
Place chicken in a large pot and cover with stock. Bring to a boil and then turn heat down and poach on a very low simmer for 45 minutes. Cool chicken in stock for 10 minutes before removing from pan. Set chicken aside to cool and save stock.
Heat oil in a large saucepan and fry rice for a few minutes. Pour in poaching liquid, bring to a boil and then turn heat down to very low. Cover and cook gently for 1 hour or until rice is extremely soft.
While rice is cooking make the dipping sauce by pounding the garlic and chilli in a mortar and pestle, and then stirring in the rest of the ingredients. When the chicken is cool enough to handle, remove and discard the skin and bones, and shred the meat.
To serve put some shredded chicken in each bowl, ladle in some rice and broth, and then top with some sliced chilli and shallots. Add a few spoons of dipping sauce to taste.
Serves 6.
PEAR AND GINGER UPSIDE-DOWN CAKE
• 150g organic butter, chopped
• ½ cup organic raw honey
• ½ cup organic brown rice syrup
• 4 large organic eggs
• 220g sheep’s milk yoghurt
• 1 tbsp finely grated fresh ginger
• ¾ cup organic wholemeal spelt flour
• ¾ cup organic plain spelt flour
• 1 tsp ground ginger
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 3 tsp aluminium-free baking powder
• ½ cup almond meal
• 3 organic brown pears, quartered, cored and thinly sliced lengthways
Caramel:
• 60g organic butter
• 4 tbsp organic raw honey
Preheat oven to180C. Beat butter, honey and rice syrup until well combined, then add eggs, one at a time, mixing each in thoroughly. Stir in yoghurt and fresh ginger, and beat well. Sift in flours, ground ginger, cinnamon and baking powder and fold through until just combined. Gently stir in almond meal.
For caramel, stir butter and honey in a small saucepan over a medium heat until melted and well combined. Pour into a greased and baking paper-lined 20cm round cake tin (not spring-form). Place pears in slightly overlapping layers over caramel, and then pour cake mixture on top. Bake for 1 hour or until a skewer withdraws clean. Stand cake in pan for 5 minutes before running a knife around the edge and turning it onto a large plate. Leave cake tin upside-down on the plate for a few minutes to allow all the caramel to run down over the cake.
Serve warm with sheep’s milk yoghurt. Cake will keep in a sealed container for 3 days. Serves 10.
Pears can be replaced with other seasonal fruit such as plums, apples, rhubarb, pineapple, apricots, peaches, bananas or mangoes.
GINGERBREAD PEOPLE
• 1 cup organic brown rice flour*
• 2 tsp aluminium-free baking powder
• 1 tsp ground ginger
• ½ tsp ground cinnamon
• ¼ tsp ground nutmeg
• ¼ tsp ground cloves
• ½ cup ground almonds
• 2 tbsp organic raw honey
• 2 tbsp organic maple syrup
• 2 tbsp organic coconut or olive oil
• 2 tbsp freshly squeezed organic orange juice
• 2 tsp finely grated organic orange zest
• currants and orange rind for decoration
Preheat oven to 170C. Sift flours, baking powder and spices into a bowl. Stir in almonds, honey, maple syrup, oil, orange juice and zest. Knead briefly and roll out between sheets of floured grease-proof paper. Cut into shapes and decorate with currants for eyes and buttons, and slivers of orange rind as mouths. Carefully lift the gingerbread people with a spatula on to greased trays and bake for 10-20 minutes.
Makes approximately 12 gingerbread people, depending on the size of your biscuit cutter.
*Brown rice flour may be substituted with plain or wholemeal flour, or with spelt, barley or oat flour.
OTHER IDEAS:
• Ginger is wonderful in fresh juices. Try carrot, beetroot, spinach, apple and ginger. Or pear, pineapple, carrot and ginger.
• To make fish with ginger: Sprinkle thick fillets of fish with finely chopped ginger, finely chopped garlic, tamari, mirin and toasted sesame oil. Wrap individually in foil or banana leaves, and bbq or bake until just cooked. Serve topped with finely sliced shallots and coriander leaves.
• Mash kumera or sweet potato with finely grated fresh ginger, butter, salt and pepper.
• When making porridge add finely grated ginger, sliced pear, cinnamon and a little maple syrup. Scatter with toasted chopped almonds.
• To make soothing Ayurvedic hot gingered milk to have before bedtime heat 1 cup milk of your choice, 1 cup water, 1 tsp freshly grated ginger , 4 cardamom seeds, 1 tsp brown rice or maple syrup and 1 tsp ghee in a small saucepan and simmer gently for 5 minutes.
• Simmer lots of sliced fresh ginger in boiling water, remove from heat and then stir in plenty of lemon juice and a little honey for a nice tea to sip when you have a cold.
