The Damsel will guess that the pressing need for candied ginger comes up in your life only now and then, like when your #3 sprog is about to be married and you’re casting about for something fancy to feed the folks.
Yes, this scenario is drawn from real life. Soon the Damsel will be feeding 100 people at a family-dinner-before-the-wedding-dealio. Just refer to her from now on as Headless Chicken.
One recipe that fell under her scrutinizing eye called for candied ginger. Usually such a recipe would be scoffed at and immediately passed over. But the bride begged so prettily that the Damsel deigned to give it a try. A trip to the market revealed that one small bottle of candied ginger cost over $9. The same amount of raw ginger cost $0.51. Hilarity ensued. As if!
The Damsel found several complicated ways to make your own candied ginger, and one easy way. GUESS WHICH is featured in this post?
Hints:
1. The Damsel has a wedding to take care of very, very soon.
2. The Damsel has many, many other children which have loads of things going on.
3. The Damsel has a lazy streak a mile long.
4. The Damsel categorically shies from recipes that use words like “hard ball” or “soft crack” or any fear-inducing words. The easy recipe had no such thing.
Acquire a large-ish piece of fresh ginger and peel it. The Damsel heard that scraping it with the side of a spoon works well, and indeed it does.
Dice it up, baby.
Combine 1/2 cup sugar, 1/2 cup water, and 1 tablespoon lemon juice and heat until it just comes to a boil.
Add the chopped ginger to the pot. The Damsel’s hunk yielded about 1/3 cup. Cook for 20 minutes or so until the ginger is tender. Let it cool a bit.
Let it drain, but don’t stress. The Damsel’s cooking liquid got sort of thick, and nothing bad happened.
Pour a bunch of sugar over the drained pieces and stir to coat. “Candied” ginger means “ginger cooked in sugar and then drenched in more sugar.”
Keep stirring and tossing the little pieces until they are individually coated. The Damsel just left them in the same strainer, and as sugar fell through the mesh, she just repoured it over the top until everything was completely coated.
The ginger will keep in a covered container on the shelf for at least 3 months. You just saved $9!
Homemade Candied Ginger (cut and pastable version)
1/2 cup water
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1/2 cup sugar
1/3 cup minced fresh ginger
Additional sugar
Heat sugar, water and lemon juice until it just comes to a boil. Add minced ginger and cook for 20 minutes or until ginger is tender. Drain. Toss with additional sugar until all the pieces are well coated. Store at room temperature, covered, up to 3 months.
