Ginger? Spicing up your life!

San Living Team
Apr 11, 2020
3 min read

Updated: Apr 14, 2020

Have you ever used Ginger? Ginger is one of the most important ingredients not just in many Eastern Countries but also many European countries as well. Unbeknownst to many, Ginger the spice, is one of the epitome of Traditional medicines. With five thousand years of history, both Chinese and Indian Pharmacists have been using it as a healing root in many different ways. Nowadays, we can see this ingredient popularized not just in Asia based countries but also in the West with it used in Ginger-beer, Candied Ginger, and of course Gingerbread!

Ginger has been circulating in China and India for what seems to be forever; however. first came around since the first century when they started trading to the Mediterranean. Since then it has gotten popular with Rome up until the falling of the Roman Empire. This led to a decrease in usage until voyagers to the East brought it back into European circulation and also as a result created a huge surge in price with a kilogram worth more than a sheep! Over ten centuries later as voyagers went to the Caribbean, Ginger-use began to spread evenly until the current age!

Back in the Medieval and middle ages, Europeans used Ginger primarily for delicacies especially within sweets. But traditionally, it has always been used medicinally by China and soon after India as well! Ginger has been found to have the prowess to aid in digestion, warming, anti-inflammatories and more! Ginger has a component called "Gingerol" (No I am not making this up!) which is scientifically proven to have anti-inflammatory and anti-oxidant properties. Even more so, this ingredient recently has even been found to lower blood sugar and help diabetics. Though it is not a guaranteed fix to your issues; overall, ginger has the traditional medical history and even some scientific backing to help with many issues such as:

-Digestion Aid and metabolism

-Anti-Inflammatory and anti-oxidant

-Throat Imitation

-Basic stomach pains, motion sickness, nausea, flatulence

-Menstrual cramping

With thousands of years of backing, ginger is a condiment that anyone should have even if it is only for the flavour profile! In Traditional Chinese Medicine, it is described as "驅風" (literal translation: refrained wind) which signifies the ability of the spice to radiate your yang. In Traditional Chinese Medicine, it is believed you need to balance your lifestyle with Ying and Yang. Ginger in the morning according to them helps you expunge "濕重" (literal translation: wet weight) which they describe as the feeling of mental fatigue, heaviness in limbs and a heavy feeling in your head. Hopefully, if you try using this ingredient, you can balance out your chi and feel the positivity flowing through your body once again!

With ginger there is so many ways to incorporate it to your meal and get you going on to your daily schedule.That being said there are also many forms of Ginger:

1. Raw Ginger: Great for dips, marinade, and baking

2. Dried Ginger & Ground Ginger: Similar to raw ginger but just another form

3. Preserved Ginger: This is hard to come by but is great for desserts

4. Pickled Ginger: Heavily used in Japanese& Indian cooking, and can even sometimes be used as breath freshener/ palate cleanser alongside sushi

5. Candied Ginger: Cooked with sugar, this is great in desserts much like preserved ginger

6. Ginger Oil: Mainly used in Traditional Chinese Medicine for joint pain and more

All these forms of ginger leads up to my personal favourite part of ginger which is the meal aspect! There are many recipes nowadays which use ginger and I personally love to use on an everyday basis. This could be through many methods such as chopping it finely, pulsing it into a paste, frying or even candying it! Also popular are ginger-based drinks which certainly pack a punch! There are many cooking styles that one could use but here are some of my favourite meals with Ginger as we await my favourite six over the course of Ginger Week!

Ginger Based Meals you can try:

-Ginger Ale

An old classic, this drink can be found at your everyday supermarket.

-Ginger Soy Glazed Chicken:

Minced into a glaze, this is a simple meal you can make at home!

https://www.budgetbytes.com/sticky-ginger-soy-glazed-chicken/

-Ginger Chicken Indian Curry

Strong Ginger flavour as the curry really brings it out! It is zesty and so much more

https://recipe52.com/indian-ginger-chicken/

-Ginger Beef

A Chinese styled classic and super easy to make!

https://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/beef-with-ginger