Blue Ginger

[spork]

Once in a blue moon, I will discover that my newly purchased root is a blue ginger.



It feels like I won the lottery. It's very different from regular ginger... not much fiber or moisture. Grated on a microplane, it comes out as a solid paste. Much less pungent in taste. A raw slice can even be eaten, the texture more like a root tuber. Aroma has a hint of smoke, I think.

Unfortunately, I don't have recipes that take advantage of it. Any suggestions are welcome.

[Zereh]

Oh wow, I didn't even know there were two kinds! Mine isn't, I just sliced a hunk off the end to check!

[Andy M.]

I may be wrong, but I thought blue ginger was another name for galangal, a distant ginger relative of ginger that looks nothing like what you have.

I think you have a piece of ginger with a dark ring around the perimeter.

[GB]

Sounds like galangal to me.

[Bolas De Fraile]

My first wife was a galangal

[CraigC]

Every once in a while, I'll get a hand that will oxidize "blue" when peeled or sliced.

Craig

[Sir_Loin_of_Beef]

I thought this was going to be about Ming Tsai's restaurant

[Andy M.]

Originally Posted by Sir_Loin_of_Beef

I thought this was going to be about Ming Tsai's restaurant

We ate there a couple of years ago and had a great meal!

[spork]

I had never heard of galangal being referred as blue ginger, so I could be mistaken, too. I was simply taught to treat ginger that is marked with a blue ring differently. It can't be grated for its juice, for example.

Here's another type of ginger. It's called "young ginger," sometimes "spring." It, too, is different. For starters, its skin is edible. It's much more mild, virtually no fiber. Raw, its texture is more like a raw potato. Its gingerness creeps up from the back end of the palate. Grating yields a lot of liquid; a slice steeped in tea is one common use. This is also the ginger that is pickled into gari that is served as a palate cleanser at sushi restaurants.

I don't know if it is actually an immature ginger lily rhizome. I suspect instead that it comes out this way due to a different growing method, perhaps hydroponically. It might be hard to find, even at your local asian market. I don't use it often, so any suggestions for this type of ginger is also welcome.