Pickled Ginger (Sushi Ginger) Recipe

Homemade Pickled (Sushi) Ginger recipe. It needs only 5 ingredients to make pickled ginger at home with flavor just like pink ginger served with Sushi in Japanese Restaurants. Even better as home pickled ginger is free of preservatives and dyes. Make once, enjoy whole month! Gluten free, vegan, dairy free.

Sweet, tangy and slightly pink in color, pickled ginger is my favorite ask whenever I eat Sushi or dine in a Japanese Restaurant.In-fact one such Japanese place in Bay Area is my inspiration to share this recipe with you.

Are you ready for a fun weekend project? I also love pickled ginger stir-fried with spicy udon noodles. (hint hint)

Pickled Ginger

Pickled Sushi Ginger, also known as gari/shoga, is a popular Japanese condiment. Specially very commonly served as palate cleanser with Sushi. Whether you buy pre-packed Sushi from Whole Foods or dine in a fancySushi Restaurant, the side of sweet pickled ginger is quintessential.

On contrary to store-bought sushi ginger, homemade pickled ginger is pale-pink in color. The store bought ginger's color is enhanced with dyes where homemade version is pale pink due to natural reaction with rice vinegar.

Pickled Ginger is easy to prepare and often served with noodles, rice and sushi. In-fact, it is used heavily in both Chinese and Japanese cuisine. Along with delicious taste, ginger also believed to aid digestion. In my home, it find ways to salads, noodles, spicy fried rice, and of course sushi.

I love to top every sushi roll with pinch of wasabi, a slice of pickled ginger with a drop of soy sauce. Such a delightful combination of sweet, spicy and umami.Craving Sushi? ;-) Ditto!

Let's make pickled ginger today. I have plans to also share my homemade sushi recipe with you.

What Do You Need To Make Pickled Ginger

See Also

3-Ingredient Tartar Sauce Recipe

If you ever wonder how sometime Japanese pickled ginger is red rather than pink? The red color dye is added while pickling ginger to make it look bright pink-red and hence more appetizing. However, you will find pink ginger tastes same as red ginger. There is no difference in flavor.

If you ever get chance to find a Japanese food store. Look for fresh pickled ginger in their refrigerator section. They sell both yellow (light pink like this recipe) and deep pink red gingers called Yellow Gari Shoga and Pink/Red Gari Shoga respectively. I have bought both yellow and red pink ginger and found the flavor to be exactly same.

Pickled Ginger - Recipe Testing

When I planned to test pickled ginger recipe for blog... I tried various ways to make pickled ginger, all with different results. I'm sharing the best, my version of pickling method that convinced me on the flavor of pickle ginger.

There were a few winners in my testing. Picture below shows few good ways to pickle ginger. (No. 2, Sushi Ginger is my version of pickled ginger for this post.)

Quick Pickled Ginger

Picture (first from the top) is quick pickled ginger. It needs no cooking time. Only mix the pickling liquid, add to the sliced ginger and refrigerate for 30 minutes. Resulting pickled ginger is sweet, sour, has good crunch but is also sharp and spicy.

If you are ginger fan, this is the ginger recipe for you. To quick pickle ginger, follow the recipe same as described in the recipe card. Only don't cure ginger and no need to heat the liquid, add straight to the ginger and let sit for 30 minutes.

Quick pickled ginger is good to serve with fried rice, stir-fry with noodles or cook chicken.

Sushi Ginger

Sushi Ginger recipe (second picture from the top) is what I have shared in the recipe card. It needs some extra time as ginger is salted and cured to extract spicy-ness out.

To make sushi ginger, ginger is salted. Salting makes ginger sweat and releases the spicy-ness out. Next, pickling liquid is just heated to point until sugar and salt are fully dissolved (not boiled), then ginger is pickled in the liquid. Let ginger pickle come to room temperature and then refrigerate until ready to use.

You can start munching on pickled ginger once pickle cool down to room temperature. For the chilled (sweeter) sushi ginger like you get in sushi restaurants, refrigerate for at-least 30 minutes.

Note: Once at room temperature, if ginger tastes bit spicy. Don't worry. Let it sit in refrigerator for few hours, it will get better, perfectly sweet and less spicy.

Candied Ginger

This was an experiment gone side ways but made a delicious candied pickled ginger. This recipe requires cooking the fresh sliced ginger with pickling liquid for 30 minutes or until liquid thickens and sugar crystalize like candy. Good to top on salads or serve with meat.

This was a long due recipe. I'm so glad to finally share this with you.

Friends, don't shy from trying new things in the kitchen. This weekend, bring home some young ginger (or check above for my tips to find fresh ginger in local produce store.) I'm sure you will find remaining 4 ingredients in your pantry. Make some pickled ginger and enjoy sweet and sour condiment with your favorite meal. A jar of pickled ginger will keep for 1 month in refrigerator.

Happy Cooking! -Savita x

Pickled Ginger (Sushi Ginger) Recipe | ChefDeHome.com (2024)

FAQs

Is sushi ginger the same as pickled ginger? ›

Gari is often served and eaten after sushi, and is sometimes called sushi ginger. It may also simply be called pickled ginger. In Japanese cuisine, it is considered to be essential in the presentation of sushi.

Is pickled sushi ginger healthy? ›

*Eating pickled ginger every day alleviates symptoms of cold, cough, flu, joint pain, and indigestion. *Contains bioactive compounds, such as gingerol, shogaols, and zingiberene which demonstrate anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties thereby helping to reduce inflammation in the body and boost immunity.

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Why do Japanese eat pickled ginger with sushi? ›

Pickled ginger is eaten with sushi.

Pickled ginger is mainly used to cleanse the palate. In ancient times, gari was used for its antimicrobial properties. Raw seafood is often the main ingredient in traditional sushi. Pickled ginger is an excellent accompaniment to sushi, as it reduces bacterial contamination.

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How to use pickled ginger sushi? ›

Gari, or the pickled ginger you get with sushi, is to be used as a palate cleanser. You eat a piece of sushi. You eat some gari afterwards to clean your palate and then eat a different piece of sushi. It helps to clear away some of the taste from the previous piece.

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Is eating too much pickled ginger bad? ›

Ginger is safe to eat daily, but experts recommend limiting yourself to 3 to 4 grams a day — stick to 1 gram daily if you're pregnant. Taking more than 6 grams of ginger a day has been proven to cause gastrointestinal issues such as reflux, heartburn and diarrhea.

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Should pickled ginger be refrigerated? ›

Pickled ginger should be kept in a cool, dark place until you are ready to open it, such as a pantry or cabinet. After opening, pickled ginger should be kept in the refrigerator in a tightly sealed container as you would with other condiments.

What are the side effects of taking too much ginger? ›

It can cause mild side effects including heartburn, diarrhea, burping, and general stomach discomfort. Taking higher doses of 5 grams daily increases the risk for side effects. When applied to the skin: Ginger is possibly safe when used short-term. It might cause skin irritation for some people.

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Can diabetics eat pickled ginger? ›

Some studies have suggested that consuming vinegar-based pickles can help regulate blood sugar levels, benefiting those with diabetes. But because pickled ginger, regardless of how it is prepared, is consumed in such small amounts at a time, the purported benefits would likewise be small.

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Is it OK to eat sushi ginger? ›

If you want to add some extra heat, put a bit of wasabi on the fish directly with your chopsticks. As for the pickled ginger, it's not meant for the sushi at all! Pickled ginger is to be eaten between different pieces of fish as a palate cleanser.

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Is it okay to mix wasabi and soy sauce? ›

Sushi chefs discourage the mixing as creating the concoction taints the soy sauce and ruins both the spiciness and aroma of wasabi. The proper way to enjoy sushi is to apply wasabi onto the fish element of sushi and dip pieces of sushi fish side down into soy sauce to not over-saturate the morsel.

What is the difference between pink and white pickled ginger? ›

A: The white ginger you see in the stores is the pickled version without any added colors. The bright pink ginger you see on the store shelves are not naturally pink. They are dyed using food color or beetroot extracts to develop an attractive hue.

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Does wasabi make sushi safe to eat? ›

Wasabi—also known as Japanese horseradish—helps kill bacteria, especially any that may be found in raw fish.

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Can you eat pickled ginger raw? ›

This raw, sugar-free version of the classic Japanese pickled ginger takes only a few minutes to prepare, is ready to eat immediately and will last for two months in the refrigerator.

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Can dogs eat pickled ginger? ›

Pickled ginger—aka the kind that's served alongside sushi—should not be shared with dogs. This is because the pickling process includes added sugar and vinegar, both of which can be harmful to dogs in excess (not to mention your dog probably won't like the taste).

Why is sushi ginger pink? ›

The pink hue develops further in the pickling process — this is when the young ginger root is sliced and added to a mixture of rice vinegar, salt, and sugar and then left to soak. Over time, the liquid brings out the pigment stored in the root. If you want to try making it yourself, the process is quite simple.

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Can I use sushi ginger instead of ginger? ›

Pickled sushi ginger

Pickled ginger can be used in place of regular ginger in most recipes, so long as you take the extra acidity into consideration. Sushi ginger is traditionally made with young shoots with a pink tip that naturally dyes it a subtle, blushing pink.

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Is pickled ginger the same as fermented ginger? ›

Here's what you need to remember: Pickling involves soaking foods in an acidic liquid to achieve a sour flavor; when foods are fermented, the sour flavor is a result of a chemical reaction between a food's sugars and naturally present bacteria — no added acid required.

Is pickled ginger the same as preserved ginger? ›

Pickled ginger and preserved ginger are both forms that have been preserved in a brine of either sweet vinegar for the pickled version or sugar and salt for the preserved version.

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What is the Japanese name for red pickled ginger? ›

Benishoga / pickled red ginger (紅しょうが in Japanese) is a variety of Japanese pickled vegetables made from ginger, salt, apricot vinegar, and sugar, with the red coloring coming from the apricot vinegar.

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Pickled Ginger (Sushi Ginger) Recipe | ChefDeHome.com (2024)

FAQs

Is sushi ginger the same as pickled ginger? ›

What is the difference between pink and white pickled ginger? ›