My First Time

How to Peel Ginger

by:
July  8, 2011

All those little nooks and nubs make peeling ginger with a paring knife a veritable finger tip-threatening nightmare. And think of the waste! Intolerable. Here's how we tackle the challenge with nothing more than a small spoon (a hotly debated method): you use the spoon's edge to quickly scrape away the root's surprisingly thin skin. It's so safe you could even enlist the wee folk for this task!

This week's videos were once again shot and edited our videographer Elena Parker (who now produces our bi-weekly Dinner & a Movie column as well!).

See what other Food52 readers are saying.

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    carol moola
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    Helen's All Night Diner
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9 Comments

carol M. July 11, 2011
a grapefruit spoon works well because of its serrated edge
 
thekoshertomato July 11, 2011
Carol, what does that look like?
 
mcs3000 July 11, 2011
Genius - thanks. Always struggle with peeling ginger. Love everyone's ideas for storing ginger.
 
NancyEddy July 10, 2011
If you peel more than you can use, put the leftovers in a jar and fill it with sherry--then refrigerate. (I learned this from my Chinese cooking teacher years ago.) The ginger-sherry liquid can then be added to stir frys.
 
thekoshertomato July 11, 2011
Great idea! Thanks for sharing.
 
thekoshertomato July 10, 2011
I am on the fence with the whole spoon thing.

I feel like the spoon is a good idea in theory - but it is much faster (in my opinion) to use my rapid peeler down the flat sides of the ginger and then I save those little knobs (to crush and release the essential oils) in my marinades along with crushed garlic. Or I sometimes use them just to infuse flavor in other things, such as simple syrups or tea.

I posted a bit here http://www.thekoshertomato.com/2010_11_01_archive.html
and maybe I was harsh, but I guess there are just different ways of doing things for different people? Who cares, when you get that beautiful fragrant ginger smell around you!
 
Helen's A. July 8, 2011
I usually keep my ginger in the freezer in a zip top bag. I usually end up grating it on the microplane, peel and all. This is a great idea for the times when I use fresh ginger. Thanks!
 
Polly H. July 10, 2011
Best suggestion in a month of Sundays, and thanks, thanks, thanks.
 
alex.campoe July 8, 2011
I use my potato peeler. It works great.