How to pickle ginger.

  • 20.03.2024

    Usually a person orders not one type of sushi and rolls, but several. And to enjoy each type, a person eats sushi with ginger, which can overpower the taste of any fish.

    I also read that ginger is served to prevent human infection in the case of low-quality fish. However, in my opinion, even if the fish is of poor quality, no amount of ginger will help.

    Pickled ginger gives a dish called sushi a special flavor.

    When I eat homemade sushi, I can’t imagine how I would eat everything if it weren’t for pickled ginger with its pungency and sweet and sour taste.

    If the sushi is real, with raw fish, then some people will not like the taste, and ginger will hide it.

    Ginger also copes well with various types of bacteria and microorganisms. What if there is something in the fish, and he will help neutralize the infection.

    A plant like ginger has a specific taste; now, recently, it has been popularized in online magazines, in print magazines Cosmo, Health, and many others. others. Doctors already recommend tea with ginger and lemon for colds, along with raspberry jam. In sushi, ginger adds piquancy, a slight taste, and if suddenly the fish in sushi is not very good quality, then ginger disinfects it. The advantage of ginger is that sushi is better digestible and there are health benefits from the addition of ginger - it lowers cholesterol, reduces pain with arthrosis, and it is an aphrodisiac, so it is a completely necessary additive to sushi.

    Pickled ginger is served with sushi and rolls. And each type of sushi has a different taste. So, in order to feel and taste every taste, you need to eat ginger, and it will definitely overwhelm all the tastes of the fish. It has a very pronounced taste.

    Ginger is needed to bring down the taste between tasting different types of sushi. It is no secret that in order to qualitatively evaluate a dish, there should be no aftertaste in the mouth (this is why sommeliers do not recommend trying wines with aromatic cheeses).

    Sushi uses raw fish, which may contain bacteria, so hot ginger and wassabi are served with sushi, which kill possible larvae.

    Ginger, on the one hand, improves and stimulates appetite, and on the other, thanks to its specific taste, it can instantly overpower the taste of the roll you just ate. As a rule, none of us limit ourselves to just one type of roll, preferring to try several at once, but eating one dollar after another at once does not make sense. You will only feel the taste of fish, obscuring all other shades. Meanwhile, each roll is unique in its own way, and to understand this, when changing dishes, you should reset the taste buds, which is easily achieved with the help of ginger. In addition, ginger itself is very useful, it is both an antioxidant and an antimicrobial agent.

    Having tried pickled ginger for the first time, and this is the kind that is served with sushi and rolls, I asked myself a similar question, then asked the person who was with me. It seemed to me that ginger tasted like... shampoo. And in fact, in a sense, ginger is used to wash the mouth between meals of different types of food, so that the taste of the previous dish does not interfere with the correct perception of the next by the taste buds.

    They say that ginger stimulates the digestion of food because... irritates taste buds. It also has antiseptic properties and neutralizes toxins, which is important for sushi, since the fish is still raw. Personally, I can't stomach it at all. Looks like he'll turn away from him.

Although Japanese cuisine is popular in Europe, its entire philosophy is difficult to understand. Many people love traditional rolls and sushi, even preparing them with their own hands at home, but they do not always use traditional companion dishes. Why do you need wasabi sauce and ginger, which has an ambiguous taste?

What is ginger for?

There are a great variety of types of sushi and rolls. These are not even dozens of recipes, but hundreds, and the most professional chef does not know all the nuances of their preparation. But the traditional companions of each of them are wasabi sauce, soy sauce and pickled ginger in the form of flakes or petals. Why is ginger used for rolls?

This tradition developed hundreds of years ago. The Japanese have a philosophical attitude towards the most everyday matters, including food consumption. They love to take pleasure in simple things, stretching it out and wrapping it in a special meaning. On the dinner table of the simplest Japanese there are always many dishes in tiny bowls, saucers, and bowls, and they all need to be tried. In order to correctly move from one dish to another and fully enjoy their flavors, there is a rule of freeing the taste buds from the taste of the previous dish. This is exactly what pickled ginger is used for.

You can make entire works of art from ginger to decorate your table.

This dish consists of thin slices of root that were marinated for several days, became soft and acquired a refreshing taste with a slightly spicy bitterness.

By consuming such a slice, a person erases the memories of what was eaten earlier from the taste buds and prepares them for the perception of another dish. In addition, ginger gives a feeling of freshness in the mouth and improves the digestion of food entering the stomach, as it stimulates the production of digestive juice. Ginger is especially useful when eating fatty foods.

The situation is similar with rolls. To enjoy the taste of each type of this dish, it is customary to eat 1-2 slices of ginger between them. That's why the pickled root is always served with this beautiful, nutritious and delicious Japanese snack.

How to eat correctly

In Japanese cuisine, it is customary to eat with chopsticks, but rolls can be eaten with your hands. Although this is not entirely beautiful and hygienic. The rolls are first dipped in soy sauce, and this is also done in a special way. If the rolls are turned inside out, that is, the fish or vegetables are on top, and the rice is inside, then the rolls are dipped into the gravy boat with the side on which the fish or other ingredient is located, but not the rice. Wasabi can be added to the gravy boat, this is suitable for those who like a spicy taste.

Ginger is not eaten with rolls. His turn comes during the period of transition from one species to another. It is enough to eat 1-2 petals, pause for a few minutes and continue eating.

Homemade pickled ginger

Pickled ginger root is used very often in Japanese cuisine. The company with rolls is a small part of the popularity that the spice has. It is not so popular in Europe and Russia, although recent studies have shown that ginger is very beneficial for weight loss. It was then that a lot of recipes for making seasoning at home appeared. This allows you to always have a useful item in the refrigerator and be confident in its quality and safety.

Since there are really a lot of marinade recipes and cooking technologies.

You can focus on some general rules that will allow you to prepare a truly high-quality and correct product:

  • The quality of the root itself plays an important role. If it is old ginger, it will be too tough due to the large number of coarse fibers, and even a strong marinade will not be able to soften them. Therefore, before you start preparing a dish, you must carefully select the product itself. The young root is quite smooth and can be easily pierced when pressing on the skin with a fingernail. Inside it is pale yellow, juicy and aromatic. The old root has a rough skin and yellow flesh with visible fibers. This one is more suitable for drying and grinding rather than pickling.
  • Before pickling, the root is thinly sliced ​​and soaked for several hours. This is done in order to rid it of excess bitterness and spice, because the taste of pickled ginger should be refreshing and almost neutral.
  • For marinade, it is better to use a natural dye, for example, beet or lingonberry juice; even food dyes are chemicals, which are already abundant in modern products.
  • The main component of the marinade is rice vinegar, but it can be completely replaced with the usual and more affordable apple cider vinegar.
  • The longer the root is pickled, the softer and more tender it becomes.
  • The finished product can be used not only for Japanese dishes. It is added to vegetable salads and main meat dishes. Some people simply eat it to improve the functions of the digestive system before feasts. Ginger can be stored in the refrigerator for several weeks.


The thinner the root is cut, the more tender and pleasant its taste will be.

Classic recipe for making pickled ginger:

  1. Peel the root and use a vegetable peeler to cut it into thin, long slices lengthwise.
  2. Place in a glass container, add cold boiled water and let stand for 4-5 hours, or leave overnight.
  3. Prepare the marinade: combine ¼ cup rice vinegar, 2 tsp. salt and 3 tbsp. l. sugar, bring to a boil and dissolve the sugar and salt.
  4. Rinse the ginger with cold water, place in a glass jar and pour over the hot marinade, add 1-2 tbsp. l. beet juice, cover and cool. After cooling, place in the refrigerator for a day. The ginger is ready.

If the dish needs to be prepared quickly, for example, in the evening when guests arrive, you can use the express marinating method. To do this, chop the ginger as in the previous recipe, place it in a saucepan, add water, bring to a boil and simmer over low heat for 30-60 seconds. This allows you to quickly soften the slices and remove bitterness from them.

When the pan is removed from the heat, the root is thoroughly washed with warm water, placed in a jar, and poured with hot marinade prepared according to the previous recipe. The volume of marinade is calculated for approximately 1 medium root. In weight form it is about 150 grams. Once the marinade has cooled, place the jar in the refrigerator and the ginger can be used.

This is how pickled ginger is made for rolls, sushi, and other fish and meat dishes. But there are other options that allow you to prepare this product with pronounced sourness, spicy notes, and sweetness in order to later add it to fruit and vegetable salads and even desserts.

If you use ginger just like that, then you can eat no more than 30-50 grams of this product at one time. Otherwise, you may experience stomach irritation, increased salivation and exacerbation of gastritis. This dish is contraindicated for children.

Oriental cuisine has firmly entered our lives. A huge credit for this goes to such a dish as sushi, which has enjoyed unprecedented popularity all over the world since ancient times. But if previously only wealthy people could afford sushi in our country, today everyone can treat themselves to purchased sushi or prepare this wonderful dish on their own. Traditionally, sushi is consumed with various spicy sauces, but true gourmets prefer to enjoy sushi with pickled ginger. Below we will tell you the benefits of this spice and how to prepare ginger for sushi.

Useful properties of ginger

In the East, ginger is the most revered spice. And the point here is not only the specific taste of the plant. Thanks to its valuable composition of vitamins and minerals, amino acids and tannins, ginger is nicknamed “The Cure for a Hundred Diseases.” This spice improves appetite, perfectly refreshes and disinfects the oral cavity, fights fatigue and apathy, relieves pain in muscles and joints, prevents respiratory diseases and quickly eliminates toothache.

How to pickle ginger at home

True fans of sushi and rolls will be interested in learning how to prepare pickled ginger yourself. Of course, you can buy a ready-made product in the supermarket, but at home you can make the dish even tastier, and have no doubt about the quality of the ingredients used.

First of all, you need to buy ginger root. It must be remembered that the fresh product has a thin light brown skin; it should not be spoiled or limp. At home, ginger root should be washed and peeled. To get rid of the peel, it is better to use a vegetable peeler, as ginger has a pungent and strong odor. Let's look at two recipes for preparing this wonderful dish.

Recipe for pickled ginger for rolls and sushi No. 1

After peeling 150 g of ginger root, it should be cut into thin slices and placed in an enamel or glass container. After this, you can start preparing the marinade. To do this, take ¼ cup of rice vinegar and place it in a saucepan. You also need to add 2 tsp there. salt, as well as 3 tbsp. Sahara. All ingredients must be brought to a boil. As soon as the marinade boils, you need to remove it from the heat and pour in the chopped ginger. This mixture should be left to saturate and cool. After about 5 hours, the pickled ginger will be ready to serve and eat.

Recipe for pickled ginger for rolls and sushi No. 2

You can go the other way by preparing the ginger in the classic way, which will take several days. But the result is worth it. By the way, this recipe is used to make pickled ginger in Japan. To prepare such a dish, you need to stock up on sweet rice wine mirin, as well as rice vodka - sake. In this case, there is no need to cut the ginger, since it is pickled entirely.

So, 250 g of peeled ginger must be immersed in boiling water for a minute, then drain the boiling water and dry the root itself with a towel. After this, the marinade is prepared, for which 2 tbsp. mirin are placed in a saucepan, where 2 tbsp are also added. sake and 5 tbsp. Sahara. After mixing the ingredients, the pan is placed on the fire. As soon as the mixture boils, it should be removed from the stove and allowed to cool slightly. After 10 minutes, immerse the ginger root in the vessel with the marinade and cover it with a lid. After placing the container with ginger in the refrigerator, you should wait 5 days until it is completely cooked. The dish is ready!

As you can see, preparing ginger for sushi is not at all difficult, and you will get enormous pleasure from such a dish! Bon appetit!

The thought of how to pickle ginger sooner or later comes to every lover of homemade sushi and rolls. Ginger and wasabi are an integral part of the ceremony of their consumption. However, it is not always possible to find a high-quality and tasty product in the store. Correctly pickling ginger means ensuring the fullness of taste and safety of the dish.

The thought of how to pickle ginger sooner or later comes to every lover of homemade sushi and rolls.

The Japanese call very thinly sliced ​​young root, marinated in a mixture of sugar and rice vinegar, “gari” or “shin-shoga” and always serve it with all rolls and sushi. An aromatic, slightly spicy and at the same time sweetish seasoning performs several functions. The main one is to cleanse the taste buds and refresh the perception between eating different rolls and sushi. This will allow you to fully experience all the nuances of taste.

In addition, along with wasabi, pickled ginger for sushi has an antimicrobial function. Traditionally, Japanese food uses fresh, raw fish. If pathogenic microorganisms begin to multiply on it, spicy additives neutralize their harmful effects on the body.

Gallery: pickled ginger (25 photos)






















How to pickle ginger yourself (video)

What is the danger of store-bought ginger?

Pink ginger of a very bright shade is usually found on sale. It is worth knowing that this color is not natural. Real pickled root has a natural beige or pale pink tint. Manufacturers usually color ginger to make their product more attractive to buyers. The safety of the product largely depends on what is used to paint it. To give the root a bright pink color, artificial colors may be added to the ginger marinade.

Vinegar and sugar are natural preservatives and taste regulators, so to create a high-quality product with a fairly long shelf life, you don’t need to add anything else. However, some manufacturers still add preservatives, sweeteners, and acidity regulators to the product. If a person is allergic to such components, it is worth paying special attention to the composition of the marinade.


A product sold by weight has one more disadvantage added to all the listed disadvantages. If stored improperly, it can become a breeding ground for bacteria. And instead of making rolls and sushi safer, it will only increase the chances of poisoning.

And finally, another danger, not for health, but for taste buds. Due to the abundance of all sorts of additives in it, store-bought ginger can completely lose its natural benefits and lose its original taste. Why expose yourself to such troubles if they can be easily avoided by knowing how to pickle ginger at home?

Subtleties of marinating

The basic pickled ginger recipe contains nothing but rice vinegar, sugar and the root itself. Ideally, you need a young specimen with pink tips. It is these roots that have a delicate aroma, a soft, fleshy texture and a very thin skin that can be peeled off with your fingers. The pigment that gives the tips a pink color, when interacting with vinegar, goes into the marinade and eventually colors all the pieces. In Japan, young ginger is harvested and sold in early summer. At the same time, everyone who likes to cook sushi at home buys the roots and prepares them for the year ahead.

It is almost impossible to find young roots in our stores. But this does not mean that preparing ginger for sushi yourself will end in failure. You can work with what you have, in any case, the end result will please you.


How to pickle ginger for sushi so that it turns pink, even if you can’t find young specimens for sale? Use a natural coloring such as beet juice. Sometimes red wine is added to the marinade to add color or pink rice vinegar is used as a base.

You can clean the roots as you wish. Sometimes it is recommended to use a spoon instead of a knife. It will help get rid of the skin in the most uneven places. But for old copies this method is not always suitable. You need to cut the root along the grain into very thin slices. An ordinary household vegetable peeling knife will help in this matter.


Basic recipe

When you make ginger for sushi at home, you can choose the recipe to suit your taste. But you should start by using the basic ingredients for the marinade - rice vinegar and sugar. Knowing how to mix them correctly, a jar of traditional seasoning for rolls and sushi can be prepared in half an hour. For this you will need:

  • fresh ginger root – 150 g;
  • rice vinegar – 100 ml;
  • sugar – 50 g;
  • salt – 1 tsp;
  • water for blanching;
  • sterilized jar with lid.

Cut the peeled roots into thin slices along the grain. Measure out half the salt and sprinkle it over all the pieces. Leave for 10 minutes. Place a pot of water on the fire. When it boils, add ginger slices and cook for 2-3 minutes.

Drain the water through a sieve and let the slices dry, spreading them out on the sieve in as thin a layer as possible. When the ginger has cooled slightly, squeeze out the remaining water with clean hands and place the slices in the prepared jar.

Pour rice vinegar into a small saucepan, add sugar and the remaining half teaspoon of salt, stir. Bring to a boil, turn off the heat, cool slightly. Pour the marinade into a jar with ginger slices. Leave at room temperature until completely cooled. Then put it in the refrigerator. Leave for at least a day before use.

3-4 hours after pickling ginger for sushi, it will begin to turn pink if you managed to find young roots. Otherwise, the natural ginger color will be preserved. This will not affect the taste. You can store pickled ginger at home in a sealed container in the refrigerator for up to a year. After opening the can - several weeks.

How to pickle ginger for sushi (video)

Variations on a theme

Knowing how to pickle ginger for sushi according to the classic recipe, you can experiment by adding new ingredients. For example, part of the vinegar (no more than a third) can be replaced with red or white wine and even vodka. Instead of rice vinegar, try using regular table vinegar (no more than 6% strength), apple vinegar, or any other fruit vinegar. The amount of sugar can be varied. If the question is how to make pink ginger for sushi, you need to prepare the beets in advance (boil or bake), peel them, cut off a few pieces and put them in a jar along with ginger slices before pouring the marinade over them.

How to serve ginger

Wasabi and ginger for rolls and sushi are usually placed on the same plate. How exactly to place them on the dishes is a matter of personal preference. Some people prefer to lay them on opposite edges. Others, on the contrary, place both seasonings on one side of the plate, and the rolls and sushi themselves on the other.

There is also a common serving method, when for a large company, rolls and sushi are beautifully laid out on a large platter. In this case, wasabi and ginger should be served separately for each eater.

When serving ginger, it is worth remembering that you do not need to put a lot of it, because it is not food, but only a way to refresh the receptors. But if guests ask why there is no more ginger, it’s so delicious, be sure to add more.

Beautiful jars with homemade seasoning can be an excellent gift for Japanese cuisine lovers like you. Knowing how to prepare ginger for sushi, you can always surprise your friends.

Along with those who eat sushi in Japanese bars and restaurants, there are also people who love to cook this exotic dish. Traditionally, sushi is served with various seasonings and sauces. An integral part of the sushi eating ritual is pickled ginger. According to the Japanese, ginger helps highlight the flavors of different types of sushi, increases appetite and fights microbes in the mouth that can enter the stomach when raw fish is used in sushi. Due to its short shelf life, it is quite difficult to purchase pickled ginger, but you can prepare it yourself at home.

To give pickled ginger a pleasant, soft pink hue, it must be tinted with beetroot juice or E124 dye.

How to pickle ginger at home
To prepare pickled ginger you will need the following ingredients:

  • 200 g ginger.
  • 100 ml vinegar (rice).
  • 1 tablespoon honey.
  • 1 teaspoon salt.
  • Small beets.
  • 200 ml mirin or 1 tablespoon vodka.
To pickle ginger, first select young roots that do not have hard threads in the pulp. Young roots are distinguished by light skin and small size. You can also buy old roots, but they will have to be cooked longer. Do not take ginger that has wrinkled skin, dark spots, or soggy pieces.

Divide the ginger root into small pieces and carefully remove the skin with a small sharp knife.

Pour half a liter of water into a saucepan, add salt and boil. Place the ginger roots in there for a couple of minutes. If the roots are old, leave them for about five minutes. Remove the boiled pieces from the water and dry them. As soon as the roots have cooled, chop them in a vegetable slicer across the grain into thin, beautiful slices.

To prepare a quality marinade you will need mirin. This word refers to real Japanese rice wine, low alcohol, with an interesting aroma and sweet taste. Japanese chefs also use sake. If you can't find mirin or sake in supermarkets, substitute Japanese plum wine, a regular grape rosé. Instead of sake, you can take Russian vodka, just make sure that the vodka is of high quality, prepared with artesian water and rectified alcohol. To prepare ginger for sushi at home, use high-quality alcoholic beverages.

Mix mirin, vinegar, honey in a separate saucepan and put on fire. As soon as the white cap appears, remove the pan from the heat. If you want a soft pink color, add some beetroot chips. For a spicy taste, you can add a couple of tablespoons of soy vinegar to the marinade.

Pour the marinade over the chopped ginger and leave for a couple of days. Place the pickled ginger in the refrigerator. You can store pickled ginger in the refrigerator for 4 months.