What are Lemon zest and Crystallized ginger? (merged)

[ilovepinkhair]

Hi, I want to make Gingerbread cupcakes in my new vegan recipes book. I'm a little confused thought, I never heard of these ingredients before Lemon zest and Crystallized ginger. Now my one of my family members told me that lemon zest is just taking the lemon skin and grinding it but i wanted to get around that and find a powder. I've looked in superstore, sobeys , bulk barn maybe i'm looking in the wrong section but i can't seem to find what i'm looking for . Can you please Help me that would be great

 

[ilovepinkhair]

xD got alot of view but no one can help me eh?

 

[viking]

At eBay

Hello ILovePinkHair and Greetings from Denmark,

You can get lemon zest powder at eBay.

So it must be possible for you to make a search for it at a store near you.

That is all I can help you with - hope it was useful anyway.

 

[ilovepinkhair]

It's helpfull thanks <3

 

[kyles]

Lemon zest is just grated lemon rind. You won't find a powder, because as far as I know, one doesn't exist. It only takes a minute to grate some lemon rind on your cheese grater, or a lemon zester if you have one.

 

[ilovepinkhair]

so you just grate the lemon skin that's it ? do you have to peel off the skin or just leave it on ?

 

[Candocook]

It is MUCH easier to just do sort of what your family suggested. Get a lemon and with a grater take just the yellow layer of the lemon off--NOT the white pith underneath.
Crystallized ginger should be in the spice aisle with Spice Islands, etc. As a matter of fact, so should dry lemon or orange zest which would be OK also.

 

[Sararwelch]

I agree that fresh lemon zest is best, but you should be able to find dried lemon peel in the spice aisle. If not, you can buy it at Penzey's PENZEYS Spices Home Page.

But if you have a grater, make your own! It's so much better.

 

[Michael in FtW]

Technically - zest is the outer skin of citrus fruits- the pith is the bitter white part under it - between the skin and the fruit. This zest contains volatile oils (flavors) which are lost when dried - so fresh is really best, and probably also cheaper.

You can remove the zest in several ways - with a pairing knife or potato peeler (wide strips), a zester (thin strips), a micro-plane grater or a regular box grater (minced). It depends on what you have and the texture you want. Of course you can always use a pairing knife or potato peeler to get wide strips and then cut them into thin strips and mince them ... this page will show you the methods to remove the zest. Here is a video on How to Zest that might help - just scroll down the page and click on Zest Citrus.

If I want minced zest - I usually use the plastic wrap on the box grater method ... when done just peel the plastic wrap off and scrape the zest off.

Here is an explanation of Crystallized Ginger and some substitutes.

 

[StirBlue]

I use powdered lemon rind and orange rind all the time. It's right there on the spice rack. According to some, oranges are actually yellow until they are commerically colored orange (?). Lemons and limes may also have been colored for a brighter glow. Is the zest "zest" or are we scraping off something else? One would think that after they gas the bananas that they would no longer turn brown...guess not!
An older person told me that she boils her apple peels, strains, and cans the apple stuff. I wonder about that wax that probably melted off; does it just float to the top and seal the jar?
Lemon gras has become very popular all of a sudden. I wonder where it came from. I know it's not knew. They probably used it in lemon pledge before we started using it in the kitchen.

 

[karadekoolaid]

Just get yourself a lemon and grate a little of the skin on the fine grater. Done, no fuss, superior flavour, FAR cheaper than powder, far quicker.

Crystallised ginger is ginger preserved in a sugar coating. If you cant find it, use fresh ginger and a little extra sugar, or ginger powder and a little extra sugar. Different, but effective.

 

[Aria]

I agree with the advise from cliveb. I have a special tool to use to make the lemon zest. You can buy the ginger in a Health Food Shop and some grocery stores carry the crystallized ginger. This is excellent in green tea..too.

 

[ilovepinkhair]

^___^ Thank you very much everybody you've helped me out lots <3 Hopefully my gingerbread cupcakes turn out great.

 

[XeniA]

Choose young, ripe, firm and non-stringy ginger...

And boy is that important, especially the "non-stringy". Mind you, if you're like me, the ginger you can get is the ginger you can get. You'll be able to get "young, ripe, firm and non-stringy" only if you're lucky.

I've love crystallised ginger but can't get it in Greece and what I've brought back from trips is long gone. So, I've tried making my own. Once. That was enough. It just wasn't even close to the commercial crystallised ginger.

In the U.S. the only crystallised ginger I've found is by Spice Islands, sold, duh, in the spice section. It's very, very nice and it's very, very expensive.

In the U.K. I can find it everywhere -- even from the sweets vendor in the train station! It's bigger and more tender and absolutely delicious.

It's an interesting addition to carrot cake, especially if you use pineapple as well, but my very favorite way to eat crystallised ginger is in chicken salad. Yep, chicken salad.

Diced chicken breast (preferably charcoal-grilled), finely-minced celery, sliced almonds, seedless green grape halves, crystallised ginger, mayonnaise, salt, and lots of cumin and coarsely ground black pepper. Knock-your-socks-off good!!

 

[Mel!]

Hello Ilovepinkhair.

I know u would prefer to buy a powder, but making your own lemon zest can be easy.
Everytime, i use a lemon, i just grate off some of it, with the cheese grater. Then i collect it, in a tub, in the fridge. If u just grate off a little, everytime u use a lemon and add to what u have already, then there will be no great big chore involved. And making the lemon zest also makes the kitchen smell lovely.

The last time i bought caramelized ginger, i bought it, in a health food store.

Mel

 

[FraidKnot]

Lemon gras has become very popular all of a sudden.

All of a sudden? You must either be very young or you live in Southern California where everything is "trendy" and considered "new", including those low-rise bluejeans which went out of style in the 1970's

Lemon grass has always been a popular ingredient in Asian cooking. When I lived in Bangkok you could find lemon grass (we won't even bring up the other types of grass!) on any street corner. Back in the states you had to search high and low for it but in the last decade or two you can find lemon grass in any grocery store; don't even have to go to an Asian market to find it.

Same thing with lemon and orange zest. Just buy an orange or a lemon and scrape off the outside just under the tough skin. The "zest" is just under there.

Crystallized ginger is easy enough to make at home. I don't have the recipe right on hand but it has something to do with boiling strips of ginger in simple syrup then coating it in granulated sugar and letting it dry. Hmmmm, reminds me of a ribs recipe I need to post!

Fraidy

 

[treadles]

If there is an oriental market in your area, purchase the crystalized ginger there...its less expensive and far superior than the regular supermarket sort.

 

[stargazer021]

Hi, I want to make Gingerbread cupcakes in my new vegan recipes book. I'm a little confused thought, I never heard of these ingredients before Lemon zest and Crystallized ginger. Now my one of my family members told me that lemon zest is just taking the lemon skin and grinding it but i wanted to get around that and find a powder. I've looked in superstore, sobeys , bulk barn maybe i'm looking in the wrong section but i can't seem to find what i'm looking for . Can you please Help me that would be great

As far as the grystallized ginger goes I just bought some in my local (chain) grocery store about a month ago. It looks like sugar coated rock candy. It was located in the spice section of the store. I thought it was rather expensive, two oz for $8.29 Hope that helps.

 

[FraidKnot]

If there is an oriental market in your area, purchase the crystalized ginger there...its less expensive and far superior than the regular supermarket sort.

Make your own. Dunk in simple syrup then roll in granulated sugar. Cheaper than an asian market, much cheaper than a grocery store.
Heh, most everything is cheaper if you do it a home. That includes hamburgers and fries, too

Fraidy